•v  <  ifrr 

LLC  l  yj  tj  J 

By 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  RICHES 


HINTS  FOE 


CLERKS  AND  YOUNG  BUSINESS  MEN 


ON  BUYING  AND  SELLING  GOODS;    SELLING  GOODS  ON 

THE    ROAD;     BUSINESS  CORRESPONDENCE; 

DRUMMING;  DUTIES  OF  CLERKS; 

PARTNERS,  ETC. 


BY 

WILLIAM  H.   MA  HER. 


CHICAGO: 

J.    FRED    WAGGONER. 

1878. 


COPYRIGHT. 

WILLIAM    H.    MAHER. 
1878. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  have  been  written  with  the 
single  purpose  of  helping  onward  on  his  way  towards 
success  the  young  man  just  starting  on  a  business  ca- 
reer.  There  has  boon  no  attempt  at  fine  writing,  nor 
has  the  author  endeavored  to  push  an}-  pet  theories  of 
his  own.  The  daily  routine  at  the  desk,  behind  the 
pounter,  buying  and  selling,  etc.,  has  been  pictured  as 
^;t  actually  is.  and  such  rules  laid  down  for  the  young 
man's  guidance  as   a   long   business   experience  has 

iown  to  be  wise.     The  critics  most  dreaded  were  the 
busine.-s   mm,  whose  experience  would   show  them  at 

glance  whether  the  principles  here   inculcated  were 

judicious  or  otherwise,  but  the  words  of  cheer  I  have 

received   from  this   class  lead   me   to  think  that  my 

work  will  benefit  those  whom  I  most  der-ire  to  assist; 

if  this  be  so,  I  shall  be  well  satisfied. 

W.  H.  M. 

Toledo,  Ohio,  1878. 


CONTEXTS 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  I.— Leaving  Home 5 

CHAPTER  II.— City  or  Country— which  ? 9 

CH  VPTER  IIL— The  Firsl  Step '. 14 

CHAPTER  rV.— Taking  Hold 19 

CHAPTER  V.— Th    Retail  Clerk 24 

CHAPTER  VI.— A  Permanent  Situation 29 

CHAPTER  VII.— Pers  mal  Expenses 34 

CHAPTER  VIIL— Lessening  Competition 39 

CHAPTER  IX.— "Telling  Tales  out  of  School" 44 

(  HAPTER   X.— Anchors 50 

CHAPTER  XL— A  Step   Higher 55 

CHAPTER  XII.— At  the  Desk  60 

CHAPTER  XIII.— Cash 71 

CHAP!  ER  XIV— Selling  Goods 80 

CHAPTER  XV.— The  Traveling  Man 87 

CHAPTER  X  V I.—  Leaves  from  a  Drummer's  Experience !j5 

CHAPTER  XVII.— A  Drummer's  Experience— Continued 102 

CHAPTER  XVIII—  "On  the  Road "  —Selling Ill 

CH  UPTER  XIX.— "On  the  Road  "—Collecting 117 

CHAPTER  XX— "On  the  Road  "—Collecting— Continued 124 

CHAPTER  XXI.—"  Will  you  be  a  Partner?" 131 

CHAP]  i  It  XXII.— " Starting  in  Business" 138 

CHAPTER  XXIIL— Buying  Goods 144 

TEE  XXIV.— Store  Assistants 152 

CHAPTER  XXV.— Arranging  stork.  Insurance,  etc 163 

CHAPTER  XXVI— A.1-, .  rtising 171 

<  HAI-'I  ER  XXVIL— Selling  Goods , 183 

CHAPTER  XX VIIL— Dunning L93 

CHAPTER  XXIX.— Attention  to  Details 203 

CHAPTER  XXX.— Speculation 211 

CHAPTER  XXXL— Letting  Well-Enough  Alone 220 

CHAP!  ER  XXXII— i;  ;ses 226 

CHAP!  ER  XXXIII.—"  .Mind  your  Own  Bu   inesf    235 

CHAP!  ER  XXXIV.— Busines    Man'f  R<  ercations 240 

CHAPTER  XXXV.— Growing  Rich 251 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  RICHES. 


CHAPTER    I. 


LEAVING    HOME. 


Those  of  us  who  have  passed  the  mile-stones  that 
mark  the  early  roads  of  business,  often  fancy  that  a  bit 
of  our  experience  might  be  of  some  value  to  the  young 
who  are  just  starting  out  on  that  thoroughfare.  And 
while  we  do  not  believe  that  we  can  lay  down  a  chart 
which  will  invariably  lead  to  success,  we  do  think  that 
our  own  mistakes,  and  the  mistakes  we  have  seen  oth- 
ers make,  ought  to  be  of  benefit  to  those  who  are  tread- 
ing in  our  steps. 

I  chose  a  business  career  because  it  was  the  best 
offered  me.  Had  I  the  power  to  choose  among  the 
professions,  I  might  have  selected  one  of  them;  but  I 
was  where  most  young  men  of  to-day  are — very  ambi- 
tious and  very  poor.  I  was  like  the  young  man  who 
told  his  father-in-law  that  he  had  no  money,  "  but  was 
chock  full  of  days'  work."  I  was  full  of  the  energy 
that  Beemed  to  tell  me  that  if  T  had  but  half  a  chance 
I  would  not  ask  for  help — I  would  make  my  own  way 
in  the  world. 

(5) 


G  ON   THE    ROAD    TO    KICTIES. 

I  was  not  ambitious  of  becoming  a  Yanderbilt  in 
wealth,  or  a  Stewart  in  business.  My  ambition  was 
bounded  by  very  moderate  limits,  and  I  am  afraid  such 
success  as  I  have  had  would  strike  most  men,  not  as 
success,  but  only  as  the  beginning  of  victory.  And  if 
anything  I  can  say  will  help  you  to  this  beginning,  I 
shall  be  amply  satisfied. 

The  first  thought  that  enters  a  boy's  head  is  a  wish; 
he  wishes  he  was  like  some  man  or  older  boy,  who  has 
what  he  has  not.  It  is  this  wish  and  desire  that  spur 
him  on  the  road  of  life.  I  like  it  to  be  so;  but  oh!  be 
careful  that  you  are  aiming  after  a  noble  end.  Con- 
it  effort  will  enable  the  most  ordinary  capacity  to 
i  1  a  i  tate  the  object  aimed  at.  If  your  model  is  a  young 
man  who  "travels  on  his  shape,"  I  can  encourage  you 
1  iy  saying  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  equal, 
if  not  excel,  him.  If  your  society  is  among  the  fast 
young  men,  who  pride  themselves  on  their  recklessness, 
yon  may  reasonably  hope  to  compete  with  the  leader 
of  your  set.  We  are,  most  of  us,  just  what  we  strive 
to  be;  perhaps  not  to  the  extent  we  desire,  but  often- 
times we  excel  our  own  ideals. 

The  difference  between  a  man  and  a  boy  is,  that  one 
has  memories  —  the  other  has  none.  Memory  is  a 
-t  that  clings  to  us  through  life,  after  we  have 
reached  the  age  of  manhood,  and  blessed  is  he  who  can 
turn  to  it  with  content  and  satisfaction.  The  sigh  of 
every  man  is,  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  live  his  life 
!■  again;  that  he  might  so  live  that  the  blots,  here 
and  there,  would  never  have  been.  Probably  there  is 
little  use  in  moralizing  over  this  point,  because  our 


LEAVING   HOME.  < 

children  are  going  to  see  for  themselves  just  what  we 
saw  for  ourselves,  and  they  will  no  more  heed  our 
warning  than  we  heeded  the  warning  of  our  elders.  '' 

But  for  all  of  this,  I  cannot  help  writing  of  the  im- 
portance it  is  to  every  young  man  to  choose  his  soci- 
ety carefully.  You  are  going  out  into  the  world  with 
a  mother's  prayer  over  you,  her  hopes  around  you. 
You  have  a  vague  feeling  of  what  your  mother's  love 
is,  hut  it  is  only  a  very  indistinct  conception  of  her 
heart.  She  has  taught  you  the  pure  truths  of  right- 
eousness till,  it  may  be,  they  are  a  little  tiresome  to 
you,  and  all  her  care  you  have  taken  as  a  matter  of 
course.  I  love  to  turn  in  the  Bible  to  that  part  where 
the  Son  of  God  looked  to  his  disciples  and  commended 
his  mother  to  their  care;  and  when  I  see  the  army  of 
boys  who  every  year  turn  from  their  homes  to  fight 
the  battle  of  life,  I  think  of  the  patient,  praying  moth- 
ers who  are  left  at  home,  and  who  can  only  patiently 
wait. and  pray.  God  pity  them  all,  for  some  of  them 
wait,  and  wait,  and  wait,  and  get  back  only  curses  and 
neglect  when  they  gave  their  best  love.  Wherever 
you  go,  whatever  you  do,  cling  to  the  home  that  nur- 
tured you;  keep  closely  in  communion  with  those  at 
home,  and  whether  business  is  brisk,  or  society  de- 
mands much  from  you,  do  not  forget  the  letters  that 
bring  the  light  to  your  mother's  eyes,  and  that  send 
another  "  God  bless  him! "  to  the  throne  of  God. 

It  is  the  habit  of  age  to  say  the  world  is  getting 
worse,  and  that  uwe  didn't  do  so  and  so;"  but  that  is 
merely  a  habit.  There  are  no  more  dangers  in  the 
steps  of  our  young  men  to-day  than  there  always  were, 


8  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    KICHES. 

and  I  think  an  independent  manliness  goes  farther  in 
winning  respect  than  ever  it  did.  There  are  good 
reasons  for  saying  that  it  is  easier  to  do  right  now  than 
ever  it  was,  and  the  men  who  are  your  judges  are  bet- 
ter educated,  I  think,  than  any  other  generation  of 
merchants — just  as  I  am  confident  the  succeeding  gen- 
eration will  be  in  advance  of  us. 

So  my  first  word  to  you,  as  you  go  out  into  the  world, 
is,  to  hold  fast  to  your  home  ties.  Come  what  will,  do 
not  let  them  loosen.  Teach  yourself  to  be  proud  of 
them,  and  on  no  account  allow  yourself  to  neglect  those 
to  whom  you  owe  so  much.  The  day  may  come  when 
you  will  be  glad  to  turn  back  to  that  home  in  sick- 
ness, there  to  be  tenderly  cared  for.  The  time  may 
be  when  your  love  of  home  may  be  the  influence  in 
the  scale  that  will  keep  you  on  the  right  side,  when 
otherwise  you  would  have  been  lost;  but  you  may  be 
sure  that  no  man  ever  cherished  such  ties  without  be- 
ing the  better  man. 


CITY    OK    COUNTRY — WHICH? 


CHAPTER    II. 

CITY   OR   COUNTRY — WHICH? 

I  can  readily  understand  why  your  eyes  should  look 
longingly  towards  a  situation  in  the  city,  and  I  appre- 
ciate all  of  what  you  call  the  advantages  that  the  city 
clerk  has  over  his  country  brother;  but  there  are  two 
sides  to  this  question,  as  to  every  other,  and  while  I  do 
not  propose  to  say  either  "  stay  "  or  "  go,"  I  think  I 
can  give  you  a  few  points  that  you,  as  a  young  man, 
may  be  in  danger  of  overlooking. 

First,  then,  you  must  take  into  account  the  fact 
that  the  competition  in  the  city  is  a  thousand-fold 
greater  than  in  the  country,  and  this  rivalry  is  not 
only  in  money-making,  but  in  brains,  and  hand  and 
brain  service.  As  a  rule,  the  brightest  and  sharpest 
of  the  country  boys  find  their  way  to  the  city.  Some 
of  them  get  there  as  easily  and  as  naturally  as  water 
rims  down  hill;  others  are  pushed  there  by  the  stories 
they  hear  of  large  salaries  and  the  wonderful  for- 
tunes made.  So  that  the  result  is  the  country  is  con- 
stantly pouring  its  best  blood  into  the  city,  and  the 
competition  to  be  met  there  by  the  young  man  com- 
mencing life,  is  entirely  different  in  degree  from  what 
he  has  to  overcome  in  his  own  village. 

Another  reason  why  the  city  does  not  always  lead 


10  ON    THE    KOAD   TO    RICHES. 

to  fortune,  is  the  fact  that  salaries  are  not  proportion- 
ately higher  than  country  salaries,  as  the  cost  of  liv- 
ing is  higher.  I  am  aware  this  is  not  as  you  have 
been  looking  at  things,  but  nevertheless  it  is  the  fact. 
The  country  clerk  hears  only  of  the  fancy  salaries  paid; 
of  the  $2,500  to  this  man,  $2,000  to  that,  and  $1,800 
to  another,  and  nothing  is  said  about  the  hundreds  who 
work  for  $100  a  year,  and  are  hardly  able  to  keep  out 
of  debt. 

A  few  days  ago  I  was  speaking  to  one  of  the  lead- 
ing New  York  importers  about  a  country  merchant 
who  had  just  failed,  and  I  said  the  man  expected  to 
get  a  situation  from  some  of  the  New  York  houses. 

"  What  salary  will  he  expect?"  my  friend  asked. 

I  suggested  that  the  man  was  a  capital  salesman, 
and  ought  to  command  a  good  salary;  that  I  thought 
he  was  worth  more  than  another  traveling  man  I 
named,  who  was  getting  $2,500  a  year. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  importer,  "  we  hear  a  great  deal 
about  some  of  these  fancy-priced  men,  but  I  happen  to 
know  the  man  you  mention  does  not  get  $1,800,  and 
the  day  has  gone  by  when  we  care  to  hire  traveling 
men  at  any  such  prices." 

A  young  man  came  to  me  who  had  been  clerking  in 
a  country  town  in  Ohio  for  five  years,  and  was  in  busi- 
Dess  two  years  for  himself,  but  had  been  "laid  out" 
by  the  hard  times,  and  now  wanted  me  to  help  him  to- 
wards "ettin <?  a  situation.  His  first  ambition  was  to  be 
a  traveling  salesman,  and  my  experience  leads  me  to 
think  that  nine  clerks  in  the  country  out  of  ten  are 
satisfied  that  they  are  exactly  fitted  to  sell  goods  on  the 


CITY    OR    COUNTRY — WHICH?  11 

road,  and  their  ambition  Beems  to  point  always  in  that 
direction.  It  is  somewhat  amusing  when  a  raw  clerk 
from  the  country  comes  into  your  oilice  and  applies 
for  a  situation  as  drummer;  and  one  doesn't  know 
whether  to  laugh  at  his  conceit  or  pity  his  ignorance. 
At  the  same  time,  of  course,  some  of  our  best  travel- 
ing men  are  those  who  have  had  experience  in  the 
country  retail  stores. 

I  told  my  young  friend  he  would  hardly  be  able  to 
get  a  situation  as  traveling  man,  but  if  he  wanted  to 
try,  I  would  give  him  a  few  letters  by  way  of  intro- 
duction. In  a  few  hours  he  came  back  and  announced 
that  the  jobbing  houses  were  not  needing  any  traveling 
men.  I  went  with  him  among  the  retail  stores,  and  I 
was  surprised  at  the  small  salaries  paid  to  the  clerks. 
In  the  dry  goods  stores  young  men  with  two  years' 
experience  were  getting  $8  a  week,  and  some  of  the 
better  class  of  clerks  were  working  for  810  a  week.  I 
learned  that  the  merchants  were  overrun  with  appli- 
cations for  situations,  and  they  had  hundreds  of  names 
of  boys  of  from  15  to  18  years  of  age  who  would  be 
very  glad  to  work  for  their  board.  I  advised  my  friend 
to  go  back  to  his  village  and  wait  for  a  chance  in  some 
of  the  stores  there. 

The  argument  held  before  young  men  to  draw  them 
to  the  city  is  the  better  chance  there  for  rapid  advance- 
ment. I  have  some  doubts  as  to  the  soundness  of  this. 
In  one  of  the  towns  where  I  used  to  sell  a  great  many 
goods,  were  a  couple  of  young  men  who  were  clerks  in 
the  two  leading  stores  of  the  place.  They  had  many 
consultations  with  me  over  their  chances  of  getting 


12  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

situations  in  the  city  if  they  should  move  that  way, 
and  my  constant  advice  to  them  was  to  stick  where 
they  were.  Some  business  called  me  to  their  town  a 
few  months  ago,  and  I  found  these  young  men  at  the 
head  of  the  two  leading  stores  there,  and  each  of  them 
was  well  fixed  in  money  matters.  I  am  confident  that 
had  they  gone  to  the  city,  they  would  be  working  on 
small  salaries  to-day. 

Two  young  men  of  my  early  acquaintance  began 
life  together;  one  went  into  the  city  and  secured  a  situ- 
ation in  the  leading  dry  goods  store;  the  other  began 
clerking  in  a  small  New  England  village.  The  village 
clerk  became  acquainted  with  the  doctors,  lawyers  and 
ministers,  and  from  being  associated  with  such  men 
was  induced  to  keep  on  with  his  books  and  study;  and 
as  he  grew  in  years  he  grew  in  influence  in  the  commu- 
nity, all  things  combining  to  give  him  greater  self- 
respect  and  self-reliance.  A  change  in  circumstances 
led  him  to  seek  the  western  country,  and  success  follow- 
ing him  there,  he  soon  worked  himself  into  a  prosperous 
business.  The  boy  who  went  to  the  city  changed  from 
this  store  to  that  store,  always  bettering  his  position  a 
little,  either  in  salary  or  in  the  position,  but  when  the 
two  friends  met  after  many  years,  the  country  clerk 
was  a  merchant  with  a  large  income,  and  the  city  clerk 
was  still  a  clerk  and  nothing  more. 

And  if  this  story  does  not  prove  that  the  country  is 
not  a  tomb  where  all  energy  and  ability  are  wasted,  it 
proves  that  the  city  is  not  always  the  high  road  to 
fortune.  The  possibilities  of  the  future  is  a  view  that 
young  men  rarely  take  of  themselves.     A  small  salary 


CITY   OR   COUNTRY — WHICH?  13 

is  not  of  much  consequence  to  a  young  man,  providing 
it  is  enough  for  his  wants,  if  it  only  leads  to  a  sure 
fortune  by-and-by.  If  you  are  sure  that  you  possess 
abilities  out  of  the  common  order,  then  there  rises  a 
question  whether  you  cannot  make  more  money  with 
them  in  a  smaller  than  in  a  larger  town. 

I  would  discourage  no  young  man  from  being  ambi- 
tious; on  the  contrary,  I  will  do  all  I  can  to  help  him 
onward  in  his  hopes;  but  I  am  anxious  that  the 
glamour  of  a  few  prominent  names  that  have  been 
made  famous  by  their  owners'  unparalleled  success, 
may  not  dazzle  other  men  to  destruction. 


li  ON    THE    ROAD   TO    KICHES. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE    FIRST    STEP. 


He  who  seeks  for  the  merchant  of  the  future  will 
find  him  in  the  clerk  of  to-day.  He  may  not  be  found 
in  you,  my  young  reader,  nor  in  you,  nor  you;  but  the 
fault  in  that  case  will  be  found  in  you,  personally,  and 
not  in  the  proposition  I  have  laid  down.  Business 
long  ago  ceased  to  be  a  matter  of  inheritance,  and  be- 
came the  property  of  brains  and  persistence.  Three 
thousand  years  or  more  ago,  the  prophet  Isaiah  spoke 
of  a  country  whose  "merchants  were  princes;"  a  suc- 
cessful merchant  of  to-day  is  more  than  a  prince  and 
more  to  be  envied  than  a  king. 

Of  every  hundred  boys  who  push  out  for  them- 
selves in  the  world,  by  far  the  greatest  number  turn 
longingly  to  a  business  career.  There  are  several 
reasons  for  this:  the  indolently  inclined  young  man 
fancies  it  a  very  easy  way  to  earn  a  living;  the  young 
society  man  notices  that  the  girls  always  have  a  very 
sweet  smile  for  the  "  nobby  "  clerk;  and  the  ambitious 
youth,  hearing  of  Astor,  Stewart  and  Girard,  proposes 
to  "  go  and  do  likewise." 

One  of  the  questions  oftenest  asked  by  parents  and 
boys  is:  "Which  branch  of  trade  is  the  best  ?"  My 
answer,  as  a  rule,  is:  "  The  one  that  you  can  get  into." 


TIIE    FIRST   STEP.  15 

If  it  is  hardware,  then  that  is  the  host  for  you;  if  gro- 
ceries, take  the  place  at  once  and  do  your  best.  No 
one  branch  of  trade  overtops  the  other  in  wealth  or 
in  influence.  As  an  offset  to  Clafl  in  in  dry  goods  there 
is  aThurber  in  groceries,  and  a  Sargent  in  hardware. 
If  there  is  a  greater  demand  for  dry  goods  and  gro- 
ceries than  for  hardware  and  drugs,  so  there  are  more 
men  selling  groceries  and  dry  goods,  and  the  margin 
of  profit  is  smaller  than  in  the  two  other  branches 
mentioned.  The  same  qualities  that  go  to  make  a 
successful  dry  goods  merchant  are  needed  to  be  a 
successful  grocer,  and  the  important  question  with  a 
boy  getting  ready  for  life  ought  not  to  be,  "  Which  shall 
I  take?"  but  "What  can  I  get  to  do?"  And  when 
he  has  found  an  answer  to  this  question  let  him  con- 
sider his  position  as  a  sure  step  on  the  road  to  fortune, 
providing  he  is  able  to  keep  up  the  light  all  along  the 
line. 

The  first  qualification  merchants  look  for  in  their 
clerk  is,  whether  he  is  always  courteous  and  obliging. 
It  does  not  matter  how  quick  and  smart  a  boy  may  be; 
if  he  is  not  pleasant  and  accommodating  he  cannot 
expect  to  succeed;  and  yet,  as  self-evident  as  this  fact 
is,  every  merchant  of  experience  can  point  to  scores 
of  good  clerks — good  in  certain  situations — but  who 
never  could  get  above  a  certain  position,  just  because 
they  did  not  try  to  curb  a  naturally  impatient  temper. 

One  of  the  best  stock  clerks  I  ever  had  was  a  man 
of  this  kind.  I  had  often  wondered  why  it  was,  that 
with  his  knowledge  of  the  trade  and  willingness  to 
work  he  had  never  climbed  into  a  better  position,  until 


16  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

one  evening  I  heard  a  dialogue  between  him  and  a 
customer.  A  man  asked  for  a  hatchet.  "  Yes,  sir," 
said  the  clerk,  "  we  have  them ;  what  kind  of  a  one  do 
you  want?"  "Oh,  a  common  hatchet,"  was  the  ans- 
wer. "  Well,  we  have  shingling,  claw,  lathing,  and 
half  hatchets."  "  I  guess  I  want  a  claw."  A  bundle 
was  opened,  but  when  the  man  saw  the  goods  he  said, 
"I  don't  want  that;  I  want  one  to  hammer  with." 
The  clerk  then  showed  him  a  half  hatchet,  but  he  did 
not  want  that.  At  this  the  small  patience  of  the  clerk 
was  exhausted.  Said  he,  "  It's  my  opinion  you  don't 
know  what  you  want!"  Naturally  the  man  turned  to 
leave  the  store,  but  I  called  him  back,  took  him  to  our 
row  of  hatchet  samples,  where  he  picked  out  the  one 
he  wanted,  and  then  got  him  one  from  the  stock.  But 
my  clerk  thought  the  man  "a  blank  fool,"  and 
fancied  he  had  talked  to  him  exactly  right. 

Another  of  my  men  was  the  exact  opposite  of  this; 
he  was  good-natured,  and  that  was  almost  his  only  ac- 
complishment; yet  he  was  a  very  valuable  clerk.  He 
had  but  little  education — so  little  that  the  commonest 
sum  in  division  proved  too  much  for  him.  But  the 
moment  a  customer  appeared,  he  dropped  whatever  he 
might  be  doing,  and  met  him  with  a  cheery  "  good 
day,"  and  a  pleasant  face,  that  won  its  way  in  people's 
regard  and  brought  them  back  to  the  store  again.  I 
never  knew  him  to  leave  a  customer,  as  if  he  was  anx- 
ious to  get  away.  His  manner  seemed  to  say:  "  I  have 
nothing  to  do  but  wait  on  you."  Most  men  with  his 
acquirements  would  have  been  day  laborers,  but  he  was 
well  worth  the  salary  paid  him. 


TTIK    FIRST    STEP.  I  < 

In  one  of  the  large  Boston  dryg Is  stores,  a  plain- 
ly-dressed woman  who  was  in  the  habit  of  trading 
there,  was  accustomed,  when  neither  of  the  proprietors 
was  present,  to  wait  until  a  certain  young  man  could 
wait  upon  her,  as  he,  of  all  the  clerks,  was  the  only 
one  wlio  did  not  seem  to  think  it  a  condescension  to 
show  her  goods.  One  clay  she  surprised  him  by  asking 
why  he  did  not  try  to  get  into  business  for  himself, 
lie  said  he  had  long  desired  to  do  so,  but  had  neither 
money  nor  monied  friends. 

"  There  is  a  vacant  room  below  here,"  said  she, 
"  would  it  not  be  a  good  one  for  dry  goods?" 

"Yes,  a  capital  place;  I  thought  of  it  as  I  passed 
there  this  morning." 

"  Go  and  rent  it,  and  refer  the  owner  to  this  address," 
at  the  same  time  handing  him  a  card. 

lie  rented    the  store,   and  then  called  to  see  her. 

"  How  much  of  a  stock  is  necessary  to  make  a  be- 
ginning?" she  asked. 

u  I  could  get  along  with  two  thousand  dollars." 

"  Then  you  may  call  at  these  houses  and  buy  your 
stock;  I  have  seen  the  parties,  and  you  will  find  it  all 
right." 

He  opened  his  store,  and  was  noted  for  his  polite- 
ness and  reliability,  and  is  now  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  Boston.  So  much  for  being  civil  to  a  plainly- 
dressed  old  woman. 

There  is  always  danger  that  any  young  man  will 
confuse  pertness  with  politeness,  and  think  he  is  only 
assuming  the  proper  business  airs,  when  he  is  really 
offensively  patronizing  to  his  customers.     On  an  old 

2 


IS  ON   THE    EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

shield  was  the  motto:  "Be  hold!  he  told!  and  every- 
where  he  hold!  "  but  on  the  reverse  side  was  the  cau- 
tion :  "  Be  not  too  bold."  Following  the  spirit  of 
this,  the  young  clerk  should  be  careful  not  to  overdo 
courtesy,  and  never  to  introduce  the  flourishes  of  ball- 
room manners  into  a  grocery  store.  The  only  greet- 
ings that  leave  a  lasting  impression  are  those  that  ap- 
pear to  be  sincere;  and  in  a  long  business  career,  I 
never  saw  a  boy  respectful  and  accommodating  but 
that  it  told  in  pushing  him  on  in  the  world. 


TA.K_L.NG    HOLD.  19 


CHAPTER    IT. 


TAKING  HOLD. 


"What  a  pity  it  is  that  when  we  gain  a  thing  that 
we  have  for  years  been  longing  for,  it  soon  becomes 
an  old  story  !  And  still  it  may  be  that  this  unsatisfie  1. 

restless  feeling  is  what  is  needed  to  drive  ns  on  to 
better  and  greater  things.  The  boy  who  has  long 
been  sighing  for  a  situation  in  the  village  or 
store,  no  sooner  secures  it  than  he  begins  to  think  it 
isn't  quite  the  delightful  position  that  he  used  to  con- 
sider it.  In  about  three  months  the  novelty  weirs 
off;  he  bus  shown  himself  on  the  street  with  a  pen  -il 
behind  his  ear  ;  has  talked  of  "our  stock  "  and  "  our 
trade  "among  his  companions;  tickled  his  mother's 
ears  with  the  tales  of  the  bills  he  has  sold,  and  awed 
his  little  brothers  and  sisters  by  letting  them  conic 
down  to  the  store  and  watch  him  do  up  a  dollar's 
worth  of  sugar.  Hut  all  these  pleasures  lose  their 
v(\'j;e  after  while,  and  doing  up  a  package  becomes  work 
just  as  sawing  wood  is  work. 

This  is  an  important  point  in  the  boy's  career.  lie 
can  do  one  of  two  things — either  coniine  himself  to 
the  strict  letter  of  what  he  supposes  his  duties  are,  or 
decide  to  call  anything  and  everything  his  work  that 


20  ON   TIIE   ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

lie  finds  needing  to  be  done.  There  are  too  many  who 
decide  they  will  have  their  rights — meaning  by  this 
that  they  propose  to  do  what  they  think  their  share  of 
the  work  is,  and  let  the  other  clerks  each  attend  to  his 
share.  Yon  can  find  such  clerks  on  every  hand;  some 
are  young  and  some  are  old,  but  they  are  clerics  and 
always  will  be.  In  their  strict  interpretation  of  their 
rights,  they  get  their  rights  and  nothing  more. 

When  I  was  quite  an  old  clerk;  that  is,  old  for  the 
years  I  had  been  clerking,  though  only  twenty  years  ot 
age,  I  was  told  by  the  head  clerk  one  morning  that 
the  senior  member  of  the  firm  had  directed  me  to  be 
sent  to  his  residence  as  soon  as  I  appeared. 

"  The  porter  is  to  go  with  you,"  said  the  head  clerk. 

Something  in  his  face  made  me  think  that  he  knew 
what  I  was  wanted  for,  so  I  asked: 

"AVhat'scopay?" 

"  He  wants  you  and  Bill  to  take  up  and  shake  his 
carpets,"  was  the  answer,  given  with  a  smile. 

For  a  second  I  thought  of  my  "  rights."  I  had  hired 
out  to  be  entry  clerk  and  book-keeper,  and  here  I  was 
expected  to  go  down  to  the  residence  of  the  proprietor 
and  beat  carpets!  I  was  troubled  with  as  much  pride 
as  the  average  young  man  of  twenty  possesses,  and 
that  is  no  small  amount.  I  don't  remember  anything 
more  distasteful  ever  ofi'ering  itself  to  me,  but  I  said, 
"All  right;  I  am  ready  when  Bill  is,"  and  we  went 
to  our  task. 

I  didn't  pout  or  sulk  or  assume  any  aggrieved  airs, 
but  went  on  my  knees  pulling  up  the  carpet  as  cheer- 
fully as  I  could.     "We  had  a  day  of  it;  the  carpets  to 


TAKING    IIOLD.  21 

take  up,  be  beaten,  and  then  put  back.  The  propri- 
etor was  chatty,  his  wife  was  sociable,  and  I  made  the 
most  of  my  opportunities;  it  never  harmed  me.  I 
had  evidence  afterwards  that  my  work  that  day  was  a 
stepping-stone  in  my  career,  and  I  might  almost  call 
it  <>ne  of  the  turning  points  in  my  life. 

Business  may  not  be  many  things  that  is  claimed 
for  it,  but  it  is  hard  work.  After  the  first  freshness 
the  many  details  become  mere  labor,  and  it  is  the 
ability  to  work  and  accomplish  results  that  counts. 
The  merchant  first  watches  a  boy's  manners  ;  when 
satisfied  with  them,  he  next  turns  to  what  the  boy 
does  or  is  doing. 

One  often  hears  it  said  that  the  wise  clerk  is  he  who 
makes  his  own  and  his  employer's  interests  identical  ; 
if  that  is  to  be  done  it  must  be  commenced  now. 
And  it  does  not  simply  mean  working  about  the  store 
— it  goes  farther  than  that,  and  means  working  on 
yourself  as   well  as  the   store. 

If  von  are  filling  your  mind  with  useful  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  your  business — how  the  different 
articles  grow  or  are  made,  how  they  are  used,  and  the 
difference  between  the  same  goods  prepared  at  differ- 
ent establishments  ;  all  these  items,  when  learned,  are 
of  benefit  to  your  employer  as  well  as  to  yourself. 

Unfortunately  business  is  made  up  of  much  that  is 
disagreeable  drudgery.  The  grocer  is  obliged  to  sort 
over  his  apples  and  potatoes  occasionally  in  order  to 
save  those  that  are  good;  the  boot  and  shoe  dealer 
must  go  through  his  stock  and  rub  and  wipe  to  guard 
against  mold  and  to  make  old  goods  appear  fresh;  the 


22  OX   TIIE    EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

hardware  merchant  must  fight  against  rust  and  spend 
a  good  share  of  his  time  polishing  up  rusty  goods. 
These  are  not  pleasant  occupations,  and  those  who  are 

skiers  for  their  rights  feel  that  they  are  being  im- 
posed upon,  but  I  have  yet  to  hear  of  an  instance  of 
such  work  ever  damaging  the  prospects  of  a  young 
man.  To  him  who  is  anxious  to  learn  the  opportunity 
will  come. 

Among  my  friends  is  a  merchant,  who  at  twelve 
years  of  age  began  his  career  in  a  woolen  factory;  his 
duties  were,  to  sweep  one  room  and  carry  water.  ]S"ot 
very  much  chance  in  such  work  to  get  educated,  but 
one  day  an  elderly  man  who  weighed  cloth  was  taken 
sick,  and  this  boy  promptly  took  his  slate  and  went  on 
with  the  work.  One  of  the  overseers,  hearing  of  the 
-  of  the  weigher,  went  to  that  room,  supposing 
he  must  be  needed  to  finish  the  task,  but  found  the 
boy  doing  so  well  he  let  him  go  on.  The  next  day  the 
old  weigher  was  still  unwell,  and  the  overseer  asked 
the  boy  to  do  the  work.  The  weigher  never  recovered, 
and  at  his  death  the  boy  was  given  the  work  as  a  per- 
manent job,  in  addition  to  his  other  work,  but  no  addi- 
tion was  made  to  his  pay.  There  were  opportunities 
for  advancing  into  other  and  higher  steps,  and  the  boy, 
who  was  on  the  look-out,  mastered  them,  and  before 
many  years  was  taken  out  of  the  factory  and  given  a 
d  1:  in  the  office.  It  is  very  evident  to  my  mind  that 
the  only  "  right "  lie  wanted  was,  by  his  being  pre- 
pared, the  right  to  get  on  in  the  world,  and  that  is  a 
right  every  merchant  is  eager  to  give  to  each  of  his 
clerks. 


TAKING    HOLD.  23 

The  old  days  of  apprenticeship  are  passed  and  gone. 
Then  men  expected  that  the  proficiency  of  the  boy  in 
his  Later  years  would  repay  the  time  wasted  in  instruct- 
in.;-  him  through  the  early  steps. 

No  mistake  can  be  greater  than  for  a  clerk  to  fancy 
he  is  paying  his  employer  for  the  knowledge  of  the 
bnsihess.  It  isn't  true.  "We  hire  a  clerk  and  enga 
to  pay  him  what  he  will  be  worth  to  us — neitl 
more  nor  less.  lie  earns  his  pay,  if  we  are  not 
disappointed  in  him,  the  first  year,  and  does  more 
— he  learns  so  much  of  the  business  that  he  is  going 
to  be  more  valuable  the  second  year,  and  consequently 
receives  more  pay  ;  and  the  second  year's  experience 
increases  his  salary  the  third  year.  ]STo where  is  he 
paying,  but  always  is  being  paid.  After  he  has 
learned  the  details  of  the  business,  it  then  rests  with 
himself  as  to  whether  he  shall  simply  be  worth  so 
many  dollars  and  cents  every  year,  or  dollars  and 
cents  and  something  more;  and  it  is  this  "something 
more"  that  every  ambitious  young  man  is  striving 
for. 


24  ON    THE   ROAD    TO   lilCHES. 


CHAPTER  Y. 


THE    RETAIL    CLERK. 


Talking  with  a  bright  young  fellow  a  few  days  ago, 
he  said  to  me:  "  I  am  satisfied  that  I  could  have  done 
a  great  deal  better  for  myself  if  I  had  gone  into  a 
wholesale  store  instead  of  a  retail  house;  a  man  has 
twice  the  chances  of  working  up  in  a  wholesale  store." 
In  a'letter  lying  before  me,  a  correspondent,  who  signs 
himself  "A  Retail  Clerk,"  says:  "I  have  been  clerk- 
ing for  eight  years  in  a  retail  store  here,  and  don't  see 
that  1  am  any  better  off  to-day  than  I  was  six  years 
ago;  the  retail  clerk  doesn't  have  the  chances  that  a 
clerk  in  a  wholesale  store  has." 

Kow  possibly  both  of  these  young  men  are  correct; 
but  if  they  are  I  must  begin  to  readjust  my  views  and 
the  results  of  my  own  experience,  for  up  to  this  time 
I  have  not  thought  that  the  wholesale  trade  controlled 
all  the  avenues  to  advancement. 

A  few  doors  from  the  room  where  I  am  writing  is 
a  grocery  store  that  never  seems  to  know  what  dull 
trade  is.  Whatever  hour  of  the  day  I  look  out,  be  it 
fair  or  stormy,  there  appears  to  be  a  steady  flow  of 
people  going  in  and  coming  out  of  the  doors.  I  am 
told  that  the  proprietor  is  doing  a  business  of  $100,000 
a  year,  and  I  can  well  believe  the  statement.     Yet  ten 


THE   RETAIL   CLEKK.  20 

years  ago,  when  I  first  saw  him,  he  was  a  clerk  in  a 
store  on  this  same  street,  and  in  the  retail  grocery 
trade.  I  have  been  at  some  pains  to  gut  a  knowledge 
of  his  early  start  1<>r  himself,  and,  in  a  large  measure, 
it  answers  the  objections  raised  by  the  clerks  who  think 
no  paths  point  upward  from  a  retail  store.  Here  is 
the  story: 

At  twenty-one  }Tears  of  age  Mr.  B found  himself 

a  clerk  in  a  retail  grocery,  with  a  salary  of  SUOO  a  year. 
lie  was  satisfied  with  what  he  had  dune  hitherto,  hut 
was  determined  to  be  something  more  than  a  clerk. 
He  had  been  content  to  sell  the  goods  on  the  .-helves 
without  asking  much  about  them;  the  cost-mark  was 
as  far  as  inquiries  went.  lie  had  been  careless  and 
easy  about  his  expenses,  simply  taking  care  not  to  run 
in  debt.  In  selling  goods  his  ambition  had  been  to 
please  his  employers,  and  had  not  reached  beyond 
that  point.  He  took  a  square  turn  in  affairs.  First, 
he  wrould  commence  to  lay  up  money;  second,  he 
would  learn  all  about  groceries,  and  lastly,  he  would 
make  a  special  effort  to  please  every  customer  who 
came  to  him. 

Do  you  know  what  it  is  to  make  a  sudden  halt  on 
the  road  where  you  have  been  spending  money  freely, 
my  young  friends,  who  read  this?  It  is  not  an  easy  or 
a  pleasant  turn  to  take.  Men  will  tell  you  that  all  you 
must  do  is  to  stop,  but  that  isn't  half  the  story.  The 
young  man  who  has  no  associates  and  friend.-  is  not  a 
healthy  young  man.  And  if  he  has  been  having  a 
pleasant  time  with  his  companions  lor  two  or  three 
years,  it  requires  some    courage    to  take  a  different 


26  ON   THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

track.     But  young  B went  along  the  road  marked 

out  for  himself,  and  though  there  were  places  in  it  that 
tried  his  resolution,  yet  he  held  on.  To  become  well 
posted  about  goods  he  had  to  read  and  ask  questions; 
and  by  watching  the  drummers  and  hearing  them 
talk  about  their  goods,  he  soon  began  to  have  a  store 
of  available  knowledge  about  the  articles  he  was  hand- 
ling day  after  clay.  His  efforts  to  make  himself  popu- 
lar with  customers  succeeded,  as  all  such  efforts  inva- 
riably do.  There  is  no  secret  about  learning  to  please 
people;  it  is  to  want  to  please  them;  when  the  desire 
is  there,  the  result  follows. 

And  while  he  was  doing  this  for  himself  he  was 
growing  more  valuable  to  his  employers,  and  his  sal- 
ary was  increased  in  consequence.  At  the  end  of  three 
years  he  had  saved  $1,500,  and  determined  to  start  in 
a  small  way  for  himself.  The  result  of  his  venture 
was  told  at  the  commencement  of  this  sketch;  he  has 
succeeded  in  building  a  good  paying  business  of  $100,- 
000  a  year.  Did  his  having  been  in  a  retail  store  harm 
him?  iNo;  it  was  what  made  him.  His  uniform  po- 
liteness and  desire  to  please  had  raised  him  hosts  of 
friends,  and  when  he  opened  his  own  store,  these  friends 
followed  him  there.  His  exjjerience  told  him  just 
what  stock  to  buy  and  what  to  avoid,  and  the  habits 
of  economy  gained  while  a  clerk  were  worth  everything 
to  him  when  he  became  a  business  man. 

If  there  are  any  easier  steps  from  a  lower  to  a  higher 
position  in  any  one  branch'  of  trade  over  another,  [ 
have  yet  to  see  it  demonstrated.  It  isn't  the  position 
— it's  the  man.     Here  and  there  a  clerk  gets  pushed 


TIIE   RETAIL   CLERK.  27 

up  because  he  has  been  faithful  for  many  years ;  but 
the  average  young  man  of  to-day  goes  higher  because 
he  pushes  himself  up.  And  when  one  is  progressing 
at  a  reasonable  pace,  and  is  pleasantly  situated,  lie 
should  lie  cautious  how  he  changes  his  base.  Salary 
is  an  important  item  in  a  clerk's  inventory, bul  salary 
is  not  everything.  The  true  question  rarely  is:  "  What 
is  best  for  this  year?"  but,  "  What  is  best  in  the  end  I " 

When  I  was  -citing  a  salary  of  $1,300  a  year,  and 
fully  earning  it,  I  was  approached  by  the  manager  of 
another  house,  and  after  he  had  thrown  out  feelers,  he 
made  mc  an  offer  of  $2,500  a  year  if  I  would  work  for 
him.  It  was  a  tempting  bait,  and  I  looked  at  it  a  long 
time  before  saying  "no,"  but  I  finally  did  decline  it. 
Twelve  hundred  dollars  was  a  large  sum  to  throwaway, 
and  it  was  at  a  time  when  I  was  anxious  to  make  and 
save  all  I  could;  but  I  fancied  my  present  position 
would  be  the  best  in  the  long  run,  and  I  concluded  to 
stick.  In  less  than  twelve  months  1  was  a  partner  in 
the  house,  and  my  share  of  the  profits  during  the  first 
year  in  business  was  some  $7,000. 

One  of  the  best  boot  and  shoe  men  I  ever  met  told 
me  he  worked  three  years  for  $700  a  year,  at  a  time 
when  another  house  held  an  offer  of  $2,000  a  year 
open  for  his  acceptance.  But  he  saw  that  a  house 
which  could  pay  such  a  salary  as  that  was  in  a  posi- 
tion where  they  were  independent  of  their  salesmen, 
while  the  firm  employing  him  would  eventually  be 
obliged  to  give  him  an  interest.  And  the  sequel 
proved  him  wise.  In  a  tew  years  he  was  taken  into 
partnership,  and  to-day  is  known  as  one  of  our  best 
and  most  successful  managers. 


20  OX   TnE    HO  AD    TO    RICHES. 

A  year  or  two  is  not  a  very  important  matter  to  a 
young  man  who  is  on  the  right  road  and  doing  well. 
He  can  better  afford  to  hold  his  own  merely,  if  there 
is  a  good  prospect  ahead,  than  to  lose  a  good  chance 
by-and-by  for  the  sake  of  a  few  dollars  to-day.  And 
this  is  true  of  clerks  who  have  nothing  more  than 
salaried  positions  to  hope  for.  It  is  greater  wisdom  to 
work  for  a  reliable  house  at  a  fair  salary  than  to  go 
with  a  firm  who  may  be  pulled  down  in  the  first  finan- 
cial Hurry,  even  though  the  latter  position  promises 
the  highest  salary.  The  wise  clerk  improves  every 
advantage,  and,  with  a  long  look  ahead,  is  bound  to 
rise — no  matter  if  he  is  in  a  retail  or  a  wholesale  store. 
The  men  who  are  made  by  circumstances  are  unmade 
by  trifling  misfortunes  ;  while  they  who  conquer  cir- 
cumstances snap  their  fingers  at  luck. 


A  PERMANENT    SITUATION.  29 


CHAPTER   YI 


A  PERMANENT   STTUATION. 


Among  all  clerks  there  is  a  feeling  that,  sooner  or 
later,  they  are  to  be  members  of  the  firm  and  doing 
business  for  themselves.  That  every  young  man 
should  look  forward  to  this,  should  use  all  his  energy 
to  push  himself  into  such  a  position,  is  very  natural 
and  all  for  the  best;  but  you  will  not  have  to  look  far 
among  the  business  houses  on  your  street  to  see  that, 
at  the  best,  the  percentage  of  clerks  who  become  mer- 
chants is  not  lar£re.  You  will  see  erav-headed  men  at 
work  over  the  books  and  among  the  stock  who  are 
clerks,  and  who  have  been  clerks  all  their  lives.  There 
are  very  plain  reasons  for  this  state  of  things. 

The  largest  houses  in  trade  have  not  been  built  up 
by  a  firm  composed  of  several  men;  even  though  there 
may  have  been  several  names  in  the  firm,  you  will  find 
that  there  is  one  among  them  who  really  was  as  much 
director  and  master  as  if  his  partners  were  only  bo 
many  clerks.  And  instead  of  thinking  to  yourself  that 
these  men  must  have  been  "  foolish"  to  allow  them- 
selves to  be  thus  controlled,  you  may  put  it  down  to 
their  credit  that  they  were  wise  enough  to  let  the 
man  lead. 

A  wise  merchant  wants  just  as  few  partners  as  he 


30  ON   THE   EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

can  possibly  get  along  with.  If  lie  has  genius  for  his 
trade,  he  can  invent  for  the  others  to  carry  out,  but 
oftentimes  the  carrying  out  can  be  done  much  better 
bv  a  clerk  than  a  partner.  The  chances  are  the  part- 
ner had  a  scheme  of  his  own  for  doing  the  same  thing; 
he  has  been  compelled  to  drop  his  method  and  substi- 
tute this,  and  in  his  heart  he  will  not  be  very  sorry  if 
this  plan  shall  prove  a  failure.  This  is  no  uncommon 
feeling  in  business;  the  amount  of  friction  constantly 
generated  in  business  partnerships  is  not  understood 
by  any  one  who  has  not  had  experience  in  it.  But 
when  the  merchant  turns  to  a  clerk  and  says:  "  I  want 
this  done  so  and  so,"  he  knows  that  the  clerk  will  have 
an  interest  in  doing  it  well  and  in  being  successful,  lest 
failure  may  be  laid  on  him.  Though  an  army  contains 
numberless  captains,  colonels  and  generals,  there  is  but 
one  commander-in-chief.  So  in  business;  however 
well  the  arrangement  of  duties  among  clerks  and  part- 
ners, there  must  be  one  mind  among  all  that  is  su- 
preme. 

It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  there  shall  be  more 
clerks  than  merchants,  and  while  your  constant  aim  is 
to  push  yourself  up  among  the  merchants,  you  should 
not  overlook  the  fact  that  your  place  may  be  among 
the  rank  of  subordinates  for  a  great  many  years,  if  in- 
deed it  is  not- to  be  always  there.  And  if  you  are  to 
be  a  clerk  always,  there  are  two  points  that  must  be 
looked  after:  first,  that  you  shall  be  so  far  proficient  in 
your  position  that  you  can  be  sure  of  a  steady  place; 
and  next,  that  you  systematically  save  a  part  of  your 
income  for  a  time  of  need  or  inability  to  work. 


A    PERMANENT   SITUATION.  31 

The  man  who  is  surest  of  steady  employment  is  not 
the  one  idea  man;  Buch  a  man  is  a  peg  that  can  fill 
only  a  very  peculiar  hole,  and  he  may  search  for 
months  and  years  for  jnst  such  a  situation  as  he  has 
losl  and  even  then  not  find  it.  Say  that  you  have  had 
charge  of  the  stock  and  lose  your  place;  you  have  been 
so  long  at  this  work  that  you  know  but  little  about  Bell- 
ing goods,  and  nothing  about  making  bills  or  keeping 
books,  [f  you  were  to  accept  a  situation  at  either  of 
these  latter  two  tasks,  you  could  not  expeel  more  sal- 
ary than  beginners  usually  receive,  and  you  could  not 
think  of  going  to  work  for  such  pay,  so  you  search 
through  the  city  for  a  house  in  need  of  a  stock-man, 
and  find  none. 

Now  the  experience  of  every  merchant  is,  that  while 
a  man  is  pushed  forward  in  position  and  salary  bc- 
cause  he  is  unusually  proficient  in  some  one  place,  it 
is  for  often er  the  case  that  the  man  who  can  iill  several 
places  well  is  the  most  valuable  in  the  store,  and  the 
one  who  is  never  allowed  to  be  out  of  work  for  a  very 
long  time.  •  If  through  some  turn  of  the  wheel  he 
loses  his  position  as  stock-man,  he  is  ready  for  the  first 
vacancy  he  finds,  be  it  as  salesman  or  book-keeper.  I 
am  aware  that  in  some  of  the  largest  houses  this  is 
not  very  practicable,  but  I  am  a  firm  believer  in  the 
adage  about  the  will  finding  a  way.  .In  a  small 
establishment  there  is  no  difficulty  in  getting  posted 
in  every  department  of  the  store,  and  I  have  yet 
to  see  the  employer  who  was  not  willing  that  his 
men  should  thoroughly  learn  everything  in  the  store 
to  be  learned. 


32  OX   THE    HOAD   TO    RICHES. 

The  salary  of  a  clerk  is  at  once  a  curse  and  a  bless- 
ing, according  as  lie  uses  it.  If  he  spends  every  cent 
of  it,  knowing  he  is  going  to  have  jnst  so  much  to 
spend,  it  is  a  curse;  but  if  he  guides  his  expenditures 
so  that  he  shall  save  something  every  year,  then  it  is 
a  blessing  to  him,  for  it  enables  him  to  regulate  his 
wants.  There  are  men — men  of  mature  years,  men  of 
families — who  look  upon  a  salary  ,as  a  figure  that  they 
are  expected  to  expend  yearly;  an  increase  of  salary 
means  an  increase  in  expenditure,  and  though  it  would 
seem  an  easy  matter  to  cut  off  some  of  these  extras 
should  the  salary  grow  smaller,  in  reality  it  is  by  no 
means  easy;  when  one  has  indulged  in  a  luxury  long 
enough  he  begins  to  consider  it  a  necessity. 

I  knew  a  man  who  on  a  salary  of  $900  a  year  raised 
a  family  and  bought  and  paid  for  a  comfortable  little 
home.  A  change  in  the  firm  he  was  with  benefitted 
him  by  an  increase  in  salary,  and  eventually  it  reached 
the  sum  of  $1,500  a  year.  One  would  think  that  if 
he  had  been  able  to  live  on  $900,  he  ought  to  save  a 
snug  sum  yearly  on  $1,500;  but  he  did  nothing  of  the 
kind;  the  increased  salary  allowed  him  to  indulge  in  a 
horse,  his  wife  in  more  expensive  bonnets,  and  his 
daughter  in  a  piano  and  music  teacher,  and  the  truth 
was  he  found  it  harder  work  to  make  both  ends  meet 
than  he  had  done  in  the  old  days.  And  when  his 
affairs  were  probated  last  spring,  his  entire  property 
consisted  of  the  house  and  lot  he  had  paid  for  when  he 
was  working  for  $900  a  year. 

There  is  another  point  in  connection  with  the  sub- 
ject of  this  letter  that  I  was  in  danger  of  overlooking, 


A    PERMANENT    SITUATION. 


and  it  is  this:  Xo  clerk  is  justified  in  doing  that  for  an 
employer  which  will  damage  his  own  reputation.  I 
do  not  refer  to  the  little  every-day  affairs  of  trade  where- 
in glibness  of  tongue  leads  a  clerk  to  claim  more  for 
the  goods  than  they  can  bear;  no  sensible  merchant 
will  ask  or  allow  such  service;  but  there  are  positions 
wherein  merchants  are  sometimes  so  placed  that  the 
endorsement  even  of  their  clerk  will  be  a  help  to  them 
and  bridge  over  their  difficulty.  But  a  clerk  should 
hesitate  to  make  a  statement  until  he  knows  exactly 
what  he  is  stating,  and  then  if  the  truth  will  not  help 
his  employer,  he  can  remain  silent;  to  make  a  false 
statement  may  temporarily  help  his  employer,  but  it 
will  not  help  himself. 

I  am  reminded  to  speak  of  this  because  of  an  in- 
cident of  very  recent  occurrence.  A  creditor  asked  a 
merchant  for  a  statement  of  his  affairs,  and  the  state- 
ment was  sent  in  the  hand- writing  of  the  head  clerk, 
who  personally  vouched  for  its  being  correct.  It  showed 
the  employer  to  be  solvent  beyond  doubt;  but  within 
thirty  days  of  that  time  the  merchant  suspended  pay- 
ment, and  made  another  statement  to  his  creditors, 
this  time  showing  himself  insolvent  by  a  large  sum, 
and  there  had  been  no  losses  between  the  first  state- 
ment and  this  one.  Now  one  of  them  was  false,  and 
the  last  one  proved  the  correct  one.  Of  course  the 
clerk  had  damaged  his  own  reputation  irretrievably, 
and  had  not  benefitted  his  employer.  An  employer 
has  no  right  to  ask  a  clerk  to  do  such  work,  and  if  he 
does  ask  it,  the  clerk  is  a  fool  who  accedes  to  the  re- 
quest. 

3 


34  ON    THE   ROAD    TO   RICHES. 


OHAPTEE     VII. 


PERSONAL  EXPENSES. 


There  is  but  one  class  of  clerks  to  whom  there  is 
the  least  use  in  preaching  economy,  and  that  is  the 
class  who  have  a  well  defined  aim  before  them,  and 
who  are  working  steadily  towards  their  object.  To 
say  to  the  young  man  who  does  not  look  beyond  to- 
day: "you  ought  to  be  saving,"  is  simply  to  waste 
words.  The  one  thing  he  does  not  do  is  to  look  far- 
ther than  the  present  hour.  But  to  the  young  clerk 
who  is  determined  that  the  future  shall  bring  him 
something  more  than  the  present  holds,  it  is  well  to 
be  reminded  that  one  of  the  sure  steps  to  success  is  to 
have  become  well  grounded  in  the  habits  of  economy. 

You  may  be  one  of  the  best  salesmen  that  ever  sold 
goods  in  your  employer's  store,  and  you  may  force 
him  into  a  position  where  he  must  decide  whether  he 
shall  give  you  an  interest  or  lose  you,  but  if  you  have 
been  reckless  with  your  salary,  he  will  hesitate  about 
trusting  you  with  his  capital.  Among  the  very 
pleasantest  ways  of  handling  money  I  count  spending 
it  as  the  most  pleasant.  But  to  get  this  pleasure  one 
must  feel  that  he  can  afford  to  spend  it.  The  salary 
of  a  clerk,  if  he  is  a  good  clerk,  is  not  intended  to  be 
the  exact  sum  upon  which  he  can  live,  but  is  usually 


PERSONAL    EXPENSES.  35 

more  than  that.  If  he  is  a  young  man  with  no  ties 
depending  on  him,  there  is  generally  a  very  snug  sum 
between  the  amount  of  the  salary  and  the  sum  nec- 
essary to  support  him.  If  he  is  desirous  to  see  how 
fast  he  can  spend  this,  or  if  he  is  aping  some  stylish 
companion  who  in  turn  is  copying  the  fashion-plates, 
he  can  easily  keep  his  account  down  where  the  casting 
of  a  balance  between  the  two  sides  is  a  very  easy 
matter.  It  is  the  proper  use  of  this  salary  about 
which  I  desire  to  write. 

That  man  has  seen  very  little  of  life  who  has  not 
learned  that  a  few  ready  dollars  are  a  great  power;  not 
the  dollars  that  you  might  own  or  may  have,  but  the 
dollars  you  can  lay  your  hand  on  now.  In  every 
branch  of  trade  we  all  know  there  are  bargains  now 
and  then  for  the  man  who  can  avail  himself  of  the 
chances.  So  in  business  houses  there  are  constant 
changes,  and  occasionallv  a  little  cash  can  do  wonders. 

I  remember  a  boot  and  shoe  merchant  who  owned 
half  of  a  stock  of  goods  worth  four  thousand  dollars. 
He  wanted  to  sell  out  his  interest,  and  that  he  might 
make  a  ready  sale,  he  offered  it  for  a  thousand  dollars 
cash.  The  stand  was  a  good  one;  the  firm  was  making 
money,  and  for  a  young  man  with  small  means  it 
offered  an  excellent  opening,  but  neither  of  three 
young  men  to  whom  I  mentioned  the  bargain  could 
raise  the  money,  though  each  of  them  might  easily  have 
been  that  much  ahead,  and  the  opening  was  lost  to 
them. 

One  of  the  questions  in  men's  minds  when  you  tell 
such  a  story  as  this  is,  why  didn't  you  help  some  one 


36  ON   THE   EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

of  the  boys  into  this?  And  the  answer  is:  The  boy 
who  will  not  help  himself  is  not  worth  assisting.  When 
I  was  a  traveling  man  one  of  my  companions  on  the 
road  was  the  representative  of  a  drug  house.  He  was 
not  satisfied  with  his  position,  his  salary  or  his  pros- 
pects, and  as  he  was  a  good  salesman  and  a  pleasant 
fellow,  I  one  day  introduced  his  name  into  some  con- 
versation I  was  having  with  his  employers,  and  sug- 
gested their  giving  him  an  interest  in  the  business; 
stating  that  I  had  found  it  an  excellent  way  to  deal 
with  clerks,  so  that  they  might  have  encouragement  to 
do  better  work.  "  There  are  some  young  men  you 
can't  encourage,"  said  the  merchant,  "  and  this  fellow 
is  one  of  them.  I  have  tried  to  make  a  man  of  him, 
and  have  been  willing  to  give  him  an  interest  in  my 
business  the  first  moment  I  saw  him  taking  hold  as  if 
he  realized  what  life  was,  but  I  can  see  no  encourage- 
ment to  helping  him.  Two  years  ago  I  told  him  when 
he  had  saved  a  thousand  dollars  I  would  give  him  an 
interest  in  my  profits  in  addition  to  his  present  salary. 
He  receives  a  salary  of  $1,350  a  year — now  let  us  see 
what  he  might  save: 

Board  at  $7  per  week $365 

Washing,  say 75 

Clothes  (at  the  highest  estimate) 200 

Allow  for  spending  money 200 


and  you  then  have  $500  a  year  for  what  he  ought  to 
save.  Well,  the  facts  are  he  is  in  debt,  and  1  am  sat- 
isfied he  will  never  save  $1,000,  and  I  am  disgusted 
with  him." 


PERSONAL   EXPENSES.  37 

Now  there  was  no  gush  or  sentiment  about  this 
thing;  the  employer  liked  his  clerk  and  was  anxious 
to  help  him,  but  he  did  not  propose  to  do  anything 
till  the  young  man  had  shown  he  had  some  self- 
restraint  and  discretion.  But  the  clerk  had  fallen 
into  expensive  habits  and  among  extravagant  associ- 
ates, and  did  not  have  strength  of  mind  enough  to 
break  away  from  them  all.     He  is  a  clerk  to-day. 

Only  a  few  days  ago  I  overheard  two  business  men 
canvassing  two  of  their  clerks.  In  character  and  per- 
sonal habits  both  were  alike,  but  one  on  a  salary  of 
$1,200  was  always  in  debt,  and  the  other  on  $1,000  a 
year  was  saving  money.  The  one  was  unable  to  deny 
himself  aught  that  he  wanted;  the  other  was  strong- 
willed  enough  to  buy  nothing  that  he  did  not  need.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  state  which  clerk  was  advanced. 

There  are  a  class  of  people  who  can  never  hear  a  word 
of  economy  without  at  once  jumping  to  the  conclusion 
that  you  desire  them  to  be  miserly;  but  this  is  not  the 
case  with  me ;  I  despise  a  miserly  disposition,  and  know 
of  nothing  that  will  be  more  damaging  to  a  merchant. 
I  like  to  see  a  clerk  dress  well,  both  at  his  work  and 
out  of  the  store — not  gaudily,  nor  discarding  a  good 
garment  to  get  one  a  little  more  in  style,  but  to  dress 
sensibly  and  well,  as  most  of  the  employers  dress. 

And  I  do  not  think  a  clerk  should  shut  himself  away 
from  every  form  of  entertainments  or  society  pleas- 
ures; on  the  contrary,  I  think  a  young  man  who 
works  steadily  at  the  desk  or  counter,  will  be  all  the 
better  for  an  evening  at  the  theatre  or  concert,  or  at  a 
pleasant   home-party  in    some   friend's   house.     But 


38  ON   THE   EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

these  things  are  not  the  end  and  aim  of  life,  and  con- 
sequently should  only  fill  out  a  small  part  of  it. 

Now  if  one  looks  at  the  cost  of  a  reasonable  amount 
of  innocent  pleasure,  the  expense  for  a  year  need  not 
be  such  a  very  large  sum.  I  have  before  me  the  ex- 
penses of  a  young  man  for  the  years  J6Q,  '67  and  '68, 
and  I  find  the  total  expenses  for  the  three  years  $2,200; 
of  this  amount  he  sent  his  mother  $500,  leaving  for 
his  own  expenses  $1,700. 

Being  a  traveling  man,  his  board  was  light,  as  his  em- 
ployers paid  his  expenses  when  on  the  road — it  was 
$800;  clothing  during  three  years,  $375;  leaving  for 
extras  $525. 

And  upon  looking  over  the  items  making  up  the 
sum  of  $525,  I  see  some  that  look  rather  extravagant, 
but  I  can  remember  that  even  a  very  economical  per- 
son enjoys  a  little  extravagance  occasionally. 

In  the  three  years  that  this  young  man  was  spend- 
ing seventeen  hundred  dollars  he  saved  fifteen  hundred, 
and  with  them  was  enabled  to  go  into  business  for 
himself. 

I  haven't  said  one  tithe  of  what  might  be  said  in 
favor  of  a  young  man's  being  economical,  but  I  have 
given  a  few  heads  for  what  each  clerk  can  expand  into 
a  great  many  sermons  for  himself.  And  I  venture  to 
say  no  man  ever  kept  an  accurate  account  of  his  ex- 
penses for  a  year  or  two  but  that  he  was  led  to  turn 
his  thoughts  toward  saving,  and  for  that  reason  I 
advise  you  to  watch  your  salary  for  the  next  twelve 
months,  and  see  if  the  exhibit  is  not  the  strongest 
sermon  ever  preached  you  in  favor  of  economy. 


LESSENING    COMPETITION.  39 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


LESSENING    COMPETITION. 


Of  two  clerks  working  side  by  side,  other  things 
being  equal,  the  one  who  has  the  best  general  educa- 
tion will  prove  the  most  valuable  clerk.  The  mer- 
chant who  is  thoroughly  posted  about  his  business,  and 
possesses  the  other  requisite  qualities,  is  sure  to  succeed 
in  life;  but  if,  in  addition  to  this,  he  is  a  reading  man 
and  a  student,  his  success  will  be  vastly  greater 
Business  is  made  up  of  much  besides  mere  business. 
When  we  have  sold  a  country  merchant  a  bill  of  goods, 
we  do  not  turn  on  our  heels  and  bow  him  out  in  the 
quickest  method  possible,  but  we  feel  like  laying  our 
order  book  down  and  having  five  minutes'  chat  on 
some  other  topic  than  business.  The  customer  who 
comes  in  to  buy  a  few  goods  at  retail  may  be  a  gossipy 
sort  of  man,  and  while  he  is  doing  his  trading  enters 
into  conversation  upon  matters  entirely  foreign  to  the 
goods  we  keep  or  he  is  buying. 

In  this  day  and  country,  where  education  counts 
for  so  much,  it  seems  at  first  sight  as  if  the  boy  who 
is  compelled  to  leave  school  at  twelve  or  thirteen  to 
begin  life,  is  much  to  be  pitied,  but  I  am  not  sure  that 
such  is  the  case.  Our  schools  of  to-day  are  graded 
even  more  than  sugars  are.      With  the  disposition 


40  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

common  in  human  nature,  to  magnify  their  office,  the 
school  teachers  of  our  common  schools  have  adopted 
distinctions  that  were  in  use  only  in  the  higher  uni- 
versities, and  children  are  "being  trained  with  much 
more  regard  to  methods  than  the  real  object  for  which 
they  go  to  school. 

A  boy  of  twelve  ought  to  have  a  good  knowledge  of 
spelling,  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography,  and  the 
main  points  of  history.  With  this  foundation  he  can 
build  quite  a  structure  of  learning,  with  only  himself 
for  a  teacher.  But  as  boys  are  turned  out  to-day  at 
twelve,  they  have  a  little  smattering  of  arithmetic, 
without  the  ability  to  do  a  sum  in  long  division;  they 
have  studied  botany,  without  retaining  a  single  fact  in 
their  mind;  spelling  is  such  a  commonplace  branch 
that  they  wasted  very  little  time  upon  it,  but  the 
chances  are  they  have  had  a  course  in  astronomy 
and  one  in  chemistry.  The  fault  of  our  schools  is 
that  they  are  planned  for  rich  men's  sons,  and  there 
are  no  courses  laid  out  for  the  boy  who  has  to  leave 
school  at  twelve  and  start  out  in  the  world. 

But  no  boy  need  feel  discouraged  if  he  wants  to  get 
an  education.  The  best  taught  men  are  not  always 
those  who  graduate  from  the  higher  colleges.  I  have 
a  feeling  of  keen  regret  for  the  young  men  who  allow 
the  years  to  pass  over  them  and  do  not  improve  their 
minds  with  each  year.  In  every  store  it  is  brains  that 
tell.  Cheap  men  will  open  boxes  and  nail  up  boxes; 
a  man  need  not  be  very  well  educated  to  make  an  or- 
dinary entry-clerk;  to  keep  a  set  of  books,  even  by 
the  much-lauded  double-entry,  is  not  a  very  difficult 


LESSENING    COMPETITION.  41 

task,  and  does  not  call  for  a  very  high  order  of  intel- 
lect. But  the  minute  one  gets  above  this  level  of  me- 
diocrity, the  case  assumes  a  new  phase.  The  entry- 
clerk  who  is  educating  himself,  the  book-keeper  who 
learns  something  more  every  day  than  how  to  add, 
subtract  or  divide,  are  both  becoming  more  valuable, 
and  are  pushing  themselves  up  where  the  competition 
lessens. 

I  knew  a  young  man  who  was  entry  clerk  in  a  large 
wholesale  house  where  he  was  kept  busy  all  day,  but 
who  at  night  was  storing  up  information,  that  had  for 
his  immediate  superior  a  young  man  who  paid  a  great 
deal  of  attention  to  his  hair  and  his  waist,  and  who 
considered  thtit  his  work  was  all  done  when  he  struck 
a  balance  and  made  his  books  come  out  to  a  cent.  One 
day  a  bill  came  in  from  England;  it  covered  several 
items;  on  each  one  of  these  a  different  commission 
had  been  charged;  the  duty  was  different,  and  the  cost 
of  carriage  was  varied,  as  the  goods  were  bulky  or  solid. 
To  take  the  invoice  and  allow  the  proper  percentage 
of  all  charges  from  commission  in  England  to  freight 
charges  here,  was  no  very  simple  task.  The  book- 
keeper was  given  the  invoice  to  figure  out  the  proper 
cost  of  each  article,  but  when  he  attempted  to  prove 
his  work,  the  result  did  not  agree  with  the  original  in- 
voice and  all  the  expenses.  He  had  to  give  up  the 
job.  A  member  of  the  firm  took  it  in  hand  and  gave 
it  up.  At  last  the  entry-clerk  took  the  invoice,  made 
his  computations,  allowed  each  item  its  proper  pro- 
portion of  expenses,  made  out  a  new  bill  with  all  these 
expenses  added,  and  the  result  agreed  with  the  gross 


42  ON   THE   KOAD    TO    RICHES. 

cost  of  the  goods.  That  little  thing  made  an  impres- 
sion in  that  young  man's  favor  which  eventually  helped 
him  into  a  commanding  position. 

A  question  frequently  asked  by  young  men  is, 
"  What  shall  I  study? "  The  answer  is,  "  Study  that 
which  you  are  interested  in.  Cultivate  a  taste  for 
reading,  and  then  channels  will  be  opened  to  you  that 
will  lead  you  on  from  one  topic  to  another."  I  heard 
a  rich  man  remark  the  other  day  that  he  would  give 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars  if  he  was  a  lover  of  read- 
ing. "  I  can't  take  up  a  book  and  enjoy  it,"  said  he, 
"  I  never  cultivated  a  taste  for  it,  and  when  I  glanced 
through  the  daily  papers,  that  was  all  the  reading  I 
wanted.  I  would  like  now  to  sit  down  and  enjoy  a 
book,  but  no  sooner  do  I  open  one  than  I  either  go  to 
sleep  or  my  mind  wanders  out  of  my  control." 

But  I  did  not  begin  with  the  intention  of  showing 
the  delights  or  pleasures  of  an  education ;  I  wanted  to 
speak  of  the  value  of  it  in  a  money  point  of  view,  and 
in  helping  young  men  on  in  life. 

One  of  the  best  salesmen  I  ever  met  was  a  young 
man  who  usually  carried  a  book  in  his  valise;  it  wasn't 
Hoyle,  but  generally  was  some  late  work  of  permanent 
value.  The  time  that  other  salesmen  gave  to  billiards 
and  "  fun "  he  gave  to  reading,  and  because  of  this 
study  he  was  a  good  salesman.  Merchants  told  me 
they  liked  to  talk  with  him ;  that  he  not  only  knew 
his  business  but  he  knew  a  good  deal  more,  and  had  a 
head  filled  with  interesting  information.  I  watched 
him  when  selling  goods,  and  saw  that  his  success  was 
due  to  the    fact  that  his  customers  respected  him, 


LESSENING    COMPETITION.  43 

and  enjoyed  sitting  down  for  a  social  chat  with  him. 
Tongue  does  not  make  one  friends  alone — tact  is  the 
magical  word.  People  who  drink  ale  delight  in  seeing 
a  nice  froth  on  the  top  of  their  glass,  but  they  only 
want  a  small  quantity  of  froth.  So  it  is  in  business. 
A  man  need  not  turn  himself  into  a  walking  diction- 
ary, but  he  should  store  his  mind  and  educate  himself 
so  that  he  can  hold  his  own  with  other  men.  The 
clerk  especially  must  avail  himself  of  every  help  to 
lift  him  on  the  road  to  success,  and  that  clerk  who  has 
not  learned  that  education  is  his  most  valuable  lever, 
has  not  yet  caught  the  A  T>  C  of  business. 


44  ON  THE   ROAD   TO   RICHES. 


CHAPTER  IX 

TELLING  TALES  OUT  OF  SCHOOL. 

One  of  my  friends  in  the  wholesale  trade  came  to 
me  as  I  was  about  to  start  on  a  trip  selling  goods, 
saying:  "  You  can  do  me  a  favor,  if  you  will;  I  con- 
stantly hear  it  said  that  I  am  selling  a  great  many 
'  seconds,'  and  I  find  it  is  damaging  my  trade.  If  it 
was  told  by  my  competitors  I  could  fight  against  it, 
but  somehow  it  sticks  too  well  for  a  jnere  trade  story. 
When  you  get  among  any  retailers  who  have  bought 
of  me,  I  wish  you  would  feel  around,  and  if  they  have 
heard  any  such  tales,  try  and  learn  how  they  first  came 
to  them,  and  you  will  do  me  a  favor." 

I  promised  to  oblige  him,  but  was  in  danger  of 
forgetting  it,  until  one  day  I  overheard  a  merchant 
talking  with  a  drummer.  The  merchant  answered  a 
remark  I  had  not  heard,  observing:  "Tour  price  is 
high;  So-and-so  offered  the  goods  for  less."  "  Pooh," 
said  the  salesman,  "you  know  the  goods  that  he  sells; 
we  don't  deal  in  seconds."  When  it  came  my  turn  to 
do  a  little  drumming,  I  finished  my  own  business,  and 
then  I  began  to  enquire  on  my  friend's  account;  I 
asked: 

"You  buy  some  goods  of  So-and-so?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  but  not  many." 

"Isn't  he  reliable?" 


TELLING  TALES  OUT  OF  SCHOOL.         45 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  I  never  had  anything  from  him 
that  was  not  all  right,  but  I  believe  he  handles  a  good 
many  seconds,  and  I  don't  care  to  get  any." 

I  professed  surprise  at  this,  saying  I  knew  him  to  be 
a  shrewd  merchant — much  too  shrewd  to  sell  seconds 
for  firsts. 

"Well,"  said  my  customer,  "I  didn't  take  much 
stock  in  it  at  first,  but  his  own  traveling  man  admitted 
it,  and  I  conclude  it  is  true." 

I  dropped  the  matter,  but  when  I  had  opportunity 
again,  I  examined  others  and  found  the  same  answer 
—  that  So-and-so's  traveling-man  had  admitted  it. 

My  friend  was  much  surprised  when  I  told  him  who 
was  authority  for  the  stories  circulating  among  the 
trade,  but  he  satisfied  himself  of  the  truth  of  it,  and 
promptly  discharged  the  man.  Now  the  truth  was, 
he  had  no  more  seconds  in  stock  than  other  houses  in 
his  line  carried,  and  what  he  bought  for  seconds  he 
sold  as  such;  but  the  salesman  having  lost  a  customer 
by  selling  him  seconds  at  the  price  of  firsts,  had  found 
it  convenient  to  tell  of  the  incident  so  often  that  nearly 
all  his  cronies  had  heard  of  the  story  about  the '  seconds,' 
and  when  he  was  through  telling  the  tale,  all  that  his 
hearers  remembered  was  that  his  house  sold  seconds. 
As  I  said,  he  lost  his  place,  and  he  could  not  get  an- 
other in  so  responsible  a  position  in  the  city. 

ISTot  long  since  I  met  the  book-keeper  of  a  merchant 
who  was  in  rather  deep  water,  and  whom  a  very  slight 
push  might  force  beyond  any  power  to  save.  While 
we  were  talking  another  man  joined  us,  and  turning 
to  the  young  man,  asked: 


46  ON   THE    EOAD   TO   KICIIES. 

"  How  is  M.  getting  along  in  his  affairs?" 

"  Ain't  getting  along  at  all,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Won't  he  pull  through?" 

"  He  thinks  he  will." 

"  What  do  you  think?  " 

"  I  think  it's  six  of  one  and  half-a-dozen  of  an- 
other." 

Within  an  hour  the  questioner  had  put  his  claim 
against  M.  into  the  hands  of  a  lawyer.  It  was  promptly 
brought  before  a  justice,  and  before  night  it  was  known 
to  several  that  M.  had  been  sued.  Now  notice  how 
things  had  worked.  M.  had  made  arrangements  with 
a  banker  to  help  him  over  the  crisis,  and  the  matter 
was  to  be  closed  the  next  morning  at  nine  o'clock;  but 
in  the  meantime  M.'s  clerk  had  said  what  he  never 
ought  to  have  said,  brought  his  employer  before  the 
court,  and  frightened  the  banker  from  helping  him. 
The  merchant  had  to  make  an  assignment. 

Said  a  merchant  to  me  while  we  were  talking  on 
this  subject:  "  Boys  will  blab,  and  you  cannot  help  it. 
I  remember  one  of  my  clerks  destroyed  a  very  pretty 
trade  I  once  had  in  a  patent  saw.  I  had  no  monopoly 
of  it,  except  from  the  fact  that  none  of  my  competi- 
tors kept  it.  I  went  to  work  quietly  and  built  up  a 
large  trade  on  it — a  trade  that  paid  me  a  couple  of 
thousand  dollars  in  the  season.  I  cautioned  my  trav- 
eling-men to  talk  about  the  saw  only  to  our  customers, 
and  to  do  no  outside  bragging.  But  I  overlooked  my 
entry-clerk;  I  didn't  suppose  he  was  going  up  and 
down  the  street  telling  of  the  saws  we  sold,  but  that  is 
just  what  he  did.     He  fancied  it  added  to  his  impor- 


TELLING  TALES  OCT  OF  SCHOOL.         47 

tance  to  show  that  the  house  was  doing  a  big  trade,  and 

so  he  kept  up  an  admiring  tale  of  our  trade  in  saws, 
often  telling  this  when  among  the  clerks  of  my  com- 
petitors. It  was  not  long  till  I  found  the  saw  with  the 
other  houses,  and  then  my  sales  and  profits  began  to 
drop.     That  boy's  boasting  cost  me  $1,500  a  year." 

"And  what  did  you  do  with  the  boy?" 

"  At  first  I  thought  I'd  ship  him,  but  he  was  a  pretty 
good  boy  and  I  concluded  it  would  be  a  lesson  to  him, 
so  I  kept  him;  he's  been  as  dumb  as  an  oyster  ever 
since." 

These  are  a  few  instances  that  I  recall  where  clerks 
have  damaged  their  employers  by  talking  too  much; 
but  I  am  satisfied  the  amount  of  harm  done  yearly  to 
merchants  by  just  such  work  as  this  is  incredibly 
large.  What  our  competitors  say  of  us  does  very  lit- 
tle good  or  harm;  it  is  taken  for  what  it  is  worth,  and 
abundent  allowances  made  for  business  rivalry.  But 
this  is  not  the  case  when  our  own  clerks  speak  against 
us.  A  miserable  little  rat  often  sinks  a  beautiful, 
great  ship,  and  a  merchant's  well -laid  plans  are 
brought  to  naught  because  a  babbling  clerk  mentions 
them  where  they  are  carried  to  the  ears  of  his  compet- 
itors. 

I  doubt  if  merchants  realize  the  extent  to  which 
their  business  is  talked  over  by  the  clerks  when  out  of 
the  store.  And  there  are  two  kinds  of  talking  clerks 
— one  hears  a  great  deal  and  tells  nothing  of  impor 
tance:  the  other  tells  everything  and  learns  nothing: 
he  talks  for  the  love  of  talking,  because  he  does  not 
know  any  better. 


48  ON  THE   KOAD   TO    RICHES. 

The  proverb  tells  of  silence  being  golden,  but  it  is  a 
great  deal  more  than  that;  it  is  gold — the  pure  metal. 
There  can  never  come  any  good  from  talking  about  the 
business  or  the  plans.  If  other  clerks  are  interested. 
in  your  story  at  all,  it  is  only  because  they  are  picking 
up  items  about  your  business  that  they  can  carry  to 
their  employers. 

I  noticed  one  of  my  traveling  men  in  very  close 
conversation  with  a  competitor's  clerk  one  day,  and 
I  began  to  feel  uneasy  about  it,  not  knowing  what 
might  be  said,  about  our  affairs  before  the  conference 
broke  up.  But  my  man  came  to  me  with  a  smile  of 
satisfaction  awhile  afterwards,  saying,  "  I  was  pump- 
ing Charlie  to  find  out  where  their  traveling  man  is." 
"  Did  you  learn? "  "  Yes;  and  I'm  going  out  to-night 
to  head  him  off."  I  didn't  have  much  respect  for  the 
clerk  who  had  told. 

I  confess  I  cannot  understand  how  a  clerk  can  go  on 
blindly  talking  about  his  employer's  business  with  peo- 
ple outside  of  his  store.  If  a  sharp  thing  has  been 
done  in  the  store  they  tell  of  it  as  if  it  in  some  way 
added  to  their  reputation  for  smartness.  At  a  social 
call,  one  evening,  it  chanced  that  two  clerks  of  rival 
houses  were  together.  One  of  them,  when  conversa- 
tion flagged,  told  of  an  incident  that  was  rather  laugh- 
able, where  one  of  their  men  had  got  an  order  from  a 
retailer  by  a  very  sharp  dodge,  and  so  interested  was 
he  in  his  own  story  that  he  gave  names  and  locations. 
The  other  clerk  had  a  good  memory  and  told  the  story 
in  his  office  the  next  day  to,  among  others,  the  travel- 
ing man,  who  in  turn  made  a  minute  of  it  in  his 


TELLING  TALE8  OUT  OF  80HOOL.         -I'1 

mind,  aild  when  next  in  tlie  store  of  the  man  upon 
whom  the  dodge  had  been  played,  used  the  story  to 
such  advantage  that  he  got  an  order,  and  the  other 
man  got — the  door  the  next  time  became  there. 

I  overheard  a  conversation  like  this  once  between 
two  clerks,  who  mel  just  a  few  feet  ahead  of  me: 

"How's  trade,  Jim?" 

"  Can't  complain.  " 

"Pho!  that's  what  von  always  say." 

"Well!  Do  you  suppose  if  it  was  dull  I'd  say  so?" 

If  I  had  known  the  boy  I  would  have  patted  him 
on  the  back. 

That  merchants  often  let  out  secrets  and  damasre 
their  trade  by  boasting,  I  am  well  aware,  but  that  is 
no  excuse  for  the  clerk;  there  is  but  one  safe  rule  for 
him  to  follow,  and  that  is  to  refuse  to  discuss  business 
matters  with  anyone  but  the  people  belonging  in  the 
store  with  him,  for  he  cannot  know  what  advantage 
a  competitor  may  get  from  some  careless  word  dropped 
by  him. 


50  ON   THE   EOAD   TO    EICHES. 


CHAPTER   X. 


anchors. 


Don't  turn  away  from  my  letter  because  I  have 
headed  it  like  a  trade  dictionary;  I  am  not  intending 
to  write  an  essay  on  ship  anchors,  their  uses  and  value, 
but  I  want  to  write  about  the  moral  anchors  which 
every  young  man  should  heave  out,  once  in  awhile,  on 
his  course — not  to  prevent  his  progress,  but  to  keep 
him  from  falling  out  of  the  right  path. 

The  boy  who  stays  in  the  town  where  he  was  born 
and  bred,  and  still  has  his  parents'  watchful  care  over 
him,  will  find  it  a  tolerably  easy  task  to  keep  on  the 
right  course;  but  when  he  goes  to  a  strange  place,  if 
that  place  is  a  large  city,  with  the  temptations  and 
allurements  that  are  found  in  nearly  every  city,  he  will 
find  that  it  requires  no  small  amount  of  force  of  char- 
acter to  keep  him  on  the  right  track. 

Youth  is  full  of  desire  to  see  and  have  a  part  in  all 
that  goes  to  make  up  life.  While  the  boy  has  been  at 
home,  he  has  felt  the  eyes  of  friends  upon  him  so 
closely  that  he  has  avoided  much  that  he  would  like 
to  see.  The  good  things  of  the  world  have  been 
brought  to  him  until  they  have  lost  their  value,  while 
the  other  side  of  life  has  been  carefully  kept  from  his 
sight.    When  he  is  away  from  all  control,  perhaps  un- 


ANCHORS.  51 

known  to  a  person  in  the  city  except  his  employers,  he 
determines  to  see  all  sides  and  corners  of  life.  If  there 
are  but  two  or  three  clerks  in  the  store  with  him,  there 
is  sure  to  be  one  among  them  who  can  gratify  his  cu- 
riosity by  tales  of  the  under  side  of  life,  and  as  he  gets 
acquainted  at  his  boarding-house,  he  soon  hears  his 
cronies  discussing  and  dilating  upon  matters  of  which 
he  has  yet  to  learn  the  alphabet.  But  there  will  be 
plenty  of  opportunities  for  him  to  learn  the  whole  book. 
Scarcely  a  night  but  some  one  will  suggest  a  trip  or  a 
walk  that  will  lead  him  a  little  nearer  to  the  ground 
that  has  been  forbidden  him,  and  as  his  acquaintance 
extends,  so  do  his  opportunities  for  seeing  what  he 
calls  "life." 

If  I  were  writing  a  sermon,  or  drawing  a  moral  les- 
son, I  might  stop  here  and  speak  of  the  hollowness  of 
all  such  pleasures  as  this  young  man  is  anxious  to 
taste;  but  I  am  not  attempting  a  sermon,  and  am  look- 
ing at  a  young  man's  life  only  as  it  may  affect  his 
business  career.  Kow  I  cannot  write  that  a  young 
man  who  takes  a  step  downward  in  life  is  surely  lost, 
because  I  do  not  believe  it;  but  I  do  believe  that  it  is 
very  easy  riding  when  you  are  going  down  hill,  and 
the  farther  down  you  get  the  harder  it  is  to  stop.  And 
SO  I  come  to  my  anchors 

I  advise  you  to  put  out,  here  and  there,  anchors  that 
will  help  you  to  keep  on  the  right  course.  And  the 
first  of  these  might  be  to  select  a  church  where  you 
will  attend,  if  not  regularly,  at  least  with  some  degree 
of  regularity.  I  do  not  say  that  you  must  not  do 
anything  more   than   simply  go  to  church  once  in  a 


52  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    EICHES. 

while;  you  can  go  as  often  as  you  please  after  you 
have  decided  where  you  will  attend.  Going  to  this 
church,  you  will  soon  get  acquainted  with  some  of  the 
members,  and  through  them  with  others,  and  then 
you  will  feel  at  home  there,  and  the  people  will  have 
an  interest  in  you.  And  the  time  may  come  when 
you  will  go  there  carelessly,  just  because  it  is  your 
habit  to  go  there  of  a  Sunday;  and  you  may  hear  a 
sermon  that  will  appeal  personally  to  yourself,  and 
your  whole  life  ma}-  be  changed  by  it,  until  your  past 
life  will  be  a  shame  to  you,  and  your  future  be  better 
and  brighter  because  of  your  resolutions  formed  that 
day. 

Or  it  may  be  that  no  such  high  motives  shall  ever 
enter  you  heart,  and  you  go  on  from  Sunday  to  Sun- 
day simply  from  habit,  but  the  nod  of  welcome  from 
those  you  meet  is  pleasant  to  you,  and  the  hearty 
hand-shake  from  pastor  or  deacon  makes  you  feel  more 
of  a  man.  And  an  hour  may  come  when  you  will  be 
held  back  from  evil  just  by  the  thought  that  you  will 
lose  the  respect  of  these  good  men,  and  then  you  will 
feel  that  this  anchor  holds  you  on  in  your  course. 

Another  anchor  will  be  getting  acquainted  with  good 
women.  It  is  easily  done  by  a  young  man  whose 
name  is  without  reproach.  Some  of  your  brother 
clerks  have  sisters,  and  will  be  willing  to  make  you 
acquainted ;  your  employers  will  be  glad  to  see  you 
calling  upon  their  wives;  your  church  will  have  soci- 
ables and  opportunities  where  you  can  extend  your  ac- 
quaintance among  the  ladies,  and  you  should  avail 
yourself  of  these.     In  all  this  1  am  not  advising  you 


ANCHORS.  53 

to  be  with  the  girls;  you  will  do  this  without  advice, 
but  my  advice  is  to  make  friends  of  the  women. 

"Women  who  have  passed  young  girlhood  appreci- 
ate attentions  from  young  men.  Girls  accept  these 
attentions  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  as  being  homage 
to  which  they  are  justly  entitled,  but  women  accept 
them  at  their  value  and  feel  kindly  towards  those  who 
offer  them.  One  can  sit  with  a  company  of  girls  for 
a  month  and  know  no  more  about  life,  as  it  really  is, 
than  if  he  had  sat  before  a  cage  of  canaries;  but  a 
woman's  instincts  tell  her  what  a  young  man  needs, 
and  he  cannot  spend  an  hour  with  her  without  learn- 
ing something  that  it  will  he  well  for  him  to  remember. 

Another  source  of  strength  to  any  young  man  is 
the  love  of  reading  and  of  good  books.  This  is  a  taste 
that  can  he  cultivated,  and  will  be  a  source  of  infinite 
pleasure  through  all  the  years  of  life,  whether  one  is 
rich  or  poor,  clerk  or  merchant.  The  man  who  reads 
has  a  fund  of  pleasure  to  draw  upon  whenever  there 
is  danger  of  time  hanging  heavy  on  his  hands.  He 
need  nol  yawn  about  billiard  rooms,  nor  hang  around 
saloons  because  the  hours  are  so  dreary;  he  can  turn 
to  a  book  and  enjoy  the  company  he  finds  therein. 
I  count  the  love  of  reading  as  one  of  the  accomplish- 
ments that  ought  to  be  cultivated  in  every  fain i! v. 
Most  men  set  altogether  too  light  a  value  upon  it,  and 
in  sonic  households  a  hundred  dollars  are  expended 
on  a  party  with  less  thought  than  one  dollar  is  used 
for  good  reading.  If  children  are  not  encouraged 
to  read,  it  is  a  taste  not  so  readily  learned  in  after 
life,  and  one  of  the  surest  anchors  that  parents  can 


54:  ON    THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

give  to  their  sons  as  they  send  them  out  in  the  world 
is  this  one — a  love  for  books. 

I  am  afraid  some  of  our  friends  would  read  this 
letter  and  blame  me  for  not  writing  on  a  higher  plane, 
and  perhaps  they  would  be  right;  but  I  have  written 
for  those  who  need  it — those  who  are  liable  to  be  drawn 
into  the  temptations  of  life;  others  who  will  not  be  so 
tempted  are  not  in  need  of  anchors. 


A  STEP    im.HEK.  55 


CHAPTER  XI. 


A   STEP   HIGHER. 


The  principles  of  business  that  can  he  taught  are 
not  many;  those  that  can  be  learned  are  almost  with- 
out end.  A  clerk  very  soon  reaches  the  place  where 
he  has  been  told  all  that  it  is  actually  necessary  that 
he  should  be  told  about  the  details  of  the  business;  lie 
falls  into  the  ruts  of  the  house,  understands  the  run 
of  trade,  the  variations  in  people  and  prices,  and  how 
to  get  in  and  send  out  goods  to  the  best  advantage.  But 
all  these  details,  while  they  are  necessary  to  be  learned, 
only  fit  the  young  man  for  that  particular  place,  and 
if  he  is  ambitious  he  is  always  looking  to  something 
better.  Others  have  been  teaching  him;  it  is  neces- 
sary that  he  should  now  teach  himself. 

A  clerk  who  remains  in  one  position  all  his  life, 
advertises  himself  lacking  in  one  of  two  things — 
ability  or  ambition.  There  undoubtedly  are  instances 
where  a  clerk  is  kept  so  constantly  and  continually 
employed  at  one  task  that  he  has  no  opportunity  to 
learn  anything  bat  his  present  work,  but  such  instances 
are  very  rare.  As  a  general  rule,  every  clerk  has  some 
time  at  his  disposal,  either  at  intervals  during  the  day 
or  in  the  evening.  These  are  hours  that  he  cannot 
afford  to  throw  away.     Not  that  it  follows  that  lie  must 


56  ON    THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

deprive  himself  of  every  pleasure,  or  must  desert  every 
form  of  entertainment.  All  work  and  no  play  makes 
Jack  a  dull  boy,  and  dullness  does  not  lead  to  success. 
But  let  him  have  his- entertainment  as  recreation,  and 
not  seek  it  as  business,  and  then  he  will  still  have  many 
valuable  hours  for  self-improvement. 

Now-a-days,  the  young  man  who  wants  to  be  a 
book-keeper  begins  to  search  through  the  columns  of 
a  newspaper  for  the  advertisement  of  a  "  business  col- 
lege." The  notice  reads  most  flatteringly;  in  three 
months  it  is  guaranteed  that  he  will  be  turned  out  an 
accomplished  penman  and  accountant,  and  with  his 
"diploma"  secure  a  position  at  a  large  salary  without 
any  effort.  But  after  he  has  earned  his  diploma  and 
learned  to  make  beasts  and  birds  with  his  pen,  he  finds 
there  is  another  side  to  the  story.  Somehow  business 
men  do  not  seem  to  be  impressed  with  the  fact  of  his 
being  a  "graduate;"  and  in  the  end  he  learns  that  he 
had  better  Irani  his  diploma  and  try  and  get  a  situa- 
tion as  entry-clerk. 

One  of  the  prosperous  merchants  of  this  city  began 
life  as  an  errand  boy  in  an  office.  Most  boys  and  most 
men  too,  for  that  matter,  would  say  that  his  position 
offered  but  little  hope  of  advancement.  The  men  in 
the  office  were  busily  employed,  and  saw  or  spoke  to 
the  boy  only  when  they  had  an  errand  or  order  for 
him.  He  had  no  accounts  to  keep,  no  writing  to  do. 
Hut  the  desire  being  there  the  opportunities  came.  He 
carried  the  mail  to  and  from  the  post-office;  watching 
the  letters  that  passed  through  his  hands,  when  he 
found  an  envelope  unusually  well  addressed  he  saved 


A   STEP    IIK ill  Kit.  57 

it  from  the  waste  basket,  and  with  this  before  him  lie 

began  to  try  to  imitat 

It  was  his  duty  to  copy  the  letters  in  the  copying 
press,  and   lie  read  and   remembered  the  phraseology 

and  the  style  until  ho  could  have  sat  down  and,  with 
the  topic  given  him,  have  dressed  it  up  in  the  same 
form. 

Se  was  bo  ready  and  willing  to  do  any  and  every- 
thing asked  of  him  that  the  men  sent  him  on  many 
private  errands  of  their  own,  and  in  return  they  could 
not  but  answer  his  questions  when  he  asked  about 
the  books  or  the  business.  A  chance  offered  where  he 
might  do  a  little  writing,  and  lie  did  the  work  before  any 
one  there  knew  that  he  could.  There  was  some  surprise 
at  the  good  hand  he  wrote,  still  more  at  the  good  form 
of  his  matter,  and  then  he  told  them  In  >w  he  had  learned. 
Ilo  was  given  a  place  at  the  desk,  while  another  boy 
ran  the  errands,  and  before  he  had  ever  thought  of 
studying  to  be  a  book-keeper  he  was  one,  and  a  good 
one. 

What  will  uot  a  persistent  effort  in  the  right  direc- 
tion do?  Energy  is  a  good  thing  of  itself,  but  it  must 
be  applied  in  the  right  direction — in  the  direction 
leading  to  advancement.  There  are  two  points  that 
decide  a  young  man's  advancement  in  the  minds  of 
his  employers — first,  is  he  worthy  of  it?  Next,  is  he 
fitted   for  it?     Character  and  ability  decide  his  future. 

Xow  if  a  young  man  is  not  fitted  for  the  next  step 
higher,  it  is  his  own  fault.  Nothing  in  business  is  a 
sealed  book;  everything  is  open  and  to  be  had  for  the 
asking. 


58  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    KICHES. 

A  young  man  whom  I  knew  went  to  a  "Western 
city  and  secured  a  position  as  bookkeeper  in  a  whole- 
sale store.  He  found  that  the  position  did  not  prom- 
ise the  advancement  that  he  desired,  and  without  say- 
ing aught  to  any  one,  he  began  to  fit  himself  to  be  a 
salesman.  Every  moment  that  he  could  spare  from 
books  he  spent  out  around  the  stock,  and  watched  the 
other  salesmen,  and  asked  questions.  When  the 
proper  time  came  he  proposed  that  he  should  be  sent 
out  on  a  trip,  and  he  made  a  successful  one.  He  was 
already  a  good  bookkeeper;  he  now  proved  his  ability 
to  sell  goods,  and  his  salary  was  advanced  to  corres- 
pond with  his  increased  worth.  In  the  house  he  was 
both  accountant  and  salesman,  as  was  most  needed, 
and  he  was  given  an  interest  in  the  firm,  when  men 
who  had  been  with  the  house  many  years  longer  than 
he  still  remained  clerks. 

It  is  young  men  of  this  kind  who  are  pushing  them- 
selves above  their  fellows  to-day.  They  are  not  wait- 
ing to  be  told  how  to  do  things,  but  are  finding  out 
for  themselves.  They  are  not  the  men  who  leave  the 
store  the  moment  the  clock  strikes  the  closing  hour, 
no  matter  whether  the  store  is  full  of  customers  or 
not,  but  they  are  the  clerks  who  are  polite  with  the 
late  customers,  as  if  every  dollar  they  were  making 
was  going  into  their  own  pockets.  They  are  not 
wasteful  with  their  employer's  money,  nor  with  their 
own.     They  rise  because  they  can  not  be  kept  down. 

They  learn  that  being  a  good  "  stroke  "  at  billiards 
does  not  give  them  credit  among  business  men;  that 
it  is  not  so  "  manly  "  as  most  boys  suppose  to  be  seen 


A   STEP    HIGHER.  59 

with  a  cigar  between  their  lips.  They  find  that  mer- 
chants do  not  go  to  saloon--  to  search  for  clerks  or  part- 
ners. They  select  their  companions  with  care,  as  they 
find  the  old  maxim  is  still  credited  by  good  men  that 
"A  man  is  known  by  the  company  he  keeps."  They 
wisely  endeavor  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  good 
men,  and  are  not  long  in  learning  that  it  is  easier  to 
get  acquainted  with  men  whose  acquaintance  and 
friendship  is  of  positive  value,  than  it  is  to  become 
the  companions  of  the  fast  men  who  consider  their 
profligacy  makes  them  "  the  style." 

The  man  who  simply  saved  the  talent  given  him 
was  condemned,  while  they  who  had  used  and  increas- 
ed theirs  were  commended.  This  parable  is  being 
enacted  around  us  every  day.  They  only  are  told 
to  "go  up  higher"  who  lit  themselves  for  a  higher 
position.  In  a  large  measure,  people  are  taken  at  their 
own  valuation,  providing  they  do  not  overvalue 
themselves.  But  when  we  see  a  young  man  making 
no  effort  to  advance  himself,  we  are  apt  to  think  that 
he  has  reached  his  level,  while  we  fancy  there  is  much 
concealed  in  that  man  who  is  doing  his  best  where  he 
is,  but  trying  to  push  himself  into  something  better. 
Modesty  is  a  virtue  that  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  rare; 
but  in  this  busy  age  people  have  neither  the  time  nor 
the  inclination  to  seek  after  those  who  are  too  modest 
or  too  lazy  to  make  their  abilities  known.  It  is  the 
lowest  ranlcs  that  are  always  full;  up  higher  the  com- 
petition lessens,  and  the  opportunity  surely  comes  to 
the  one  who  has  fitted  himself  to  grasp  it. 


60  ON   TUE   ROAD    TO    KICHES. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


AT    THE    DESK. 


There  is  a  pleasant  ring  in  your  voice  as  yon  an- 
nounce that  you  have  been  promoted  to  the  position  of 
book-keeper,  and  I  cannot  keep  back  the  words  of  Sol- 
omon: "Let your  eyes  look  right  on,"  and:  "He  that 
buildeth  slowly  buildeth  surely."  Your  new  position 
bringswith.it  new  duties  and  greater  burdens  of  re- 
sponsibility. As  clerk  you  were  expected  to  turn  to 
the  book-keeper  for  advice  and  direction;  in  your 
present  place  you  must  decide  matters  for  yourself, 
and  an  error  on  your  part  may  cause  serious  loss  to 
the  house. 

As  your  eyes  scan  the  duties  belonging  to  your  po- 
sition, do  you  not  see  why  it  is  that  merchants  select 
their  book-keepers  from  the  next  lower  position,  rather 
than  engage  a  graduate  of  a  business  college?  Un- 
doubtedly you  have  been  surprised  that  so  few  of  the 
thousands  thus  "  graduated"  are  not  heard  of  in  count- 
ing-rooms, and  that  so  many  of  them  return  to  their 
fathers'  farms.  The  prospectuses  of  the  colleges  cer- 
tainly promise  a  golden  future  to  every  young  man 
who  earns  a  "  diploma."  Is  he  not  taught  banking, 
insurance,  actual  business,  and  even  telegraphing? 
Do  they  not  have  and  handle  notes  and  bills  till  their 


AT  Till,    pi  -  r..  CI 

business  transactions  run  ap  into  millions?  Arethey 
not  taught  not  only  how  to  write  a  good  hand,  bul 
to  put  flourishes  to  their  signatures  that  drive  common 
folks  to  despair  with  envy,  and  to  make  beasts  and 
birds  with  their  pens  till  they  are  able  to  start  a  me- 
nagerie with  their  own  productions'?  But  when  the 
graduate  asks  for  a  situation,  and  announces  with  par- 
donable pride  that  he  is  a  graduate  of  the  Mildam 
Business  College,  he  is  wonderfully  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  fact  is  a  damage  to  him.  If  he  ever  secures 
a  position  he  finds  he  must  keep  his  ''diploma"  to 
himself,  and  begin  at  the  bottom  step  and  work  his 
way  up.  Actual  business  is  so  vastly  different  from 
theoretical  business,  that  it  is  necessary  to  completely 
drop  the  latter  from  the  mind  before  you  can  make 
much  headway  in  learning  to  manage  the  former.  To 
be  a  good  book-keeper  four  points  must  have  been 
thoroughly  learned,  viz:  accuracy,  rapidity,  neal 
and  habits  of  order.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  are 
a  good  speller,  but  a  dictionary  should  be  as  indispen- 
sable as  your  ink-bottle;  and  whenever  you  have  the 
faintest  doubt  as  to  the  proper  way  to  spell  a  word  it 
should  be  consulted.  All  book-keepers  have  more  or 
less  of  the  correspondence  to  attend  to,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  you  have  studied  the  letters  sent  out  and 
received  under  your  predecessor,  so  that  your  own 
efforts  will  bear  scrutiny. 

The  ability  to  write  a  good  hand  is  a  valuable  one. 
but  not  so  necessary  as  many  suppose.  Some  of  the 
best  book-keepers  T  am  acquainted  with,  men  getting 
large  salaries  and  filling  important  positions,  are  \vy 


62  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

indifferent  penmen.  There  are  other  qualities  than 
the  ability  to  write  a  good  hand  needed.  But  there  is 
very  little  excuse  for  a  boy  being  a  poor  writer.  Prac- 
tice, practice,  practice,  and  if  your  aim  is  to  improve, 
you  will  improve.  You  can't  be  a  good  writer  in  a 
day  or  a  year;  but  you  will  constantly  be  improving 
if  you  set  a  good  model  before  you,  and  work  hard 
and  at  all  times  to  equal  it.  I  do  not  boast  of  my 
own  writing,  nor  set  myself  up  for  a  model,  but  my 
writing  is  a  little  better  than  it  was  when  I  began  to 
work  at  the  desk.  When  my  forlorn  letters  got  mixed 
up  among  the  graceful  characters  made  by  the  propri- 
etor, I  felt  cheap  enough;  I  felt  so  cheap  I  determined 
to  have  it  changed.  I  began  to  work  over  letters,  and 
whenever  I  came  across  one  I  liked  I  tried  to  copy  it. 
1  remember  I  worked  eight  years  before  I  could  make 
a  capital  E  that  pleased  me.  The  time  came  when  my 
writing  was  not  noticeably  bad,  though  it  was  never 
uncommonly  good. 

Business  correspondence  differs  from  a  law  docu- 
ment in  that  it  should  convey  the  greatest  amount  of 
information  in  the  fewest  possible  words.  You  might 
write:  "  Your  letter  dated  the  8th  of  August  has  been 
received  in  due  time.  We  would  be  glad  to  accept  the 
proposition  you  make,  but  are  sorry  to  say  that  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  do  so.  The  prices  you  name  are 
much  too  high  for  our  market.  Yours  very  truly,"  etc. 
But  you  would  find  business  men  laughing  at  you. 
One  of  the  firm  would  probably  have  condensed  the 
above  into  this  form:  "  Yours  of  8th  ult.  is  at  hand. 
We  regret  that  we  cannot  accept  at  price  quoted. 
Yours  truly,1'  etc. 


AT   THE    DESK.  03 

In  beginning  .1  letter  to  a  firm  it  is  common  usage 
to  Have  "Messrs."  prefixed  to  their  name,  and  then  on 
the  line  helow  the  abbreviation  "  Gent."  or  "  Gent  n;" 
"•Gents"  has  too  much  of  the  cockney  about  it.  In 
a  letter  to  an  individual  you  should  use  the  prefix 
"  Mr."  or  write  "  Esq."  after  his  name,  and  then  begin 
the  letter  with  "Sir"  or  "Dear  Sir." 

Messrs.  Black  &  White, 

GenVn: — "Yours  of  Tthinst.  is  at  band,"  etc. 

JonN  Smith,  Esq., 

Dear  Sir: — "  In    reply    to   yours  of  the  7th 
inst.,"  etc. 

In  writing  a  letter  do  not  take  it  fur  granted  that 
your  correspondent  will  know  your  residence  so  well 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  write  it  in  full.  Always 
give  your  full  address — post  office  and  state,  and 
date  your  letter,  giving  not  only  month  and  day, 
but  year.  A  few  days  ago  I  received  a  letter  from 
Portland;  the  letter-heading  was  a  printed  one,  show- 
ing the  firm  was  doing  a  wholesale  business  in  their 
line,  but  their  address  was  merely  "Portland,"  and 
no  state  given.  Whether  it  was  in  Maine  or  Oregon, 
or  any  of  the  states  between  these  two,  could  only  be 
learned  by  searching  the  mercantile  register,  and  to 
do  that  took  up  much  time. 

In  ordering  goods  every  word  Bhonld  be  clear 
and  unmistakable.  Each  order  should  contain  full 
shipping  directions.  It  is  not  enough  that  yon  gave 
lull  directions  when  ordering  before;  yon  cannot,  ex- 
pect wholesale  houses  to  remember  just  which  one  of 


G-i  OX   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

the  many  lines  you  prefer  to  ship  by,  though  yon  can 
say,  if  you  want  goods  to  come  as  before,  "ship 
same  as  last  bill,"  and  parties  can  then  refer  to  pre- 
vious order.  If  there  is  but  one  railroad  line,  say 
whether  to  send  by  freight  or  express.  Accustom 
yourself  to  get  these  directions  in  your  mind  as  a  part 
of  every  order.  If  no  directions  are  given,  the  party 
receiving  the  order  is  at  liberty  to  ship  as  it  pleases 
him,  and  should  the  goods  come  by  express  with 
heavy  charges,  when  they  might  have  come  by  freight 
at  small  cost,  the  fault  will  be  with  you.  If  I  were 
ordering  goods,  I  would  write  as  follows: 

Toledo,  Ohio,  Sept.  1, 1SS0. 
Messes.  Beowx  &  Smith, 

Gentn:—  Please  send  us  by  L.  S.  It.  E.  at  your 
earliest  convenience, 

1  case  Men's  Calf  Boots, 

1  "  Children's  Copper  Tip'd  Shoes,  same  sizes  and 
quality  as  those  billed  July  20th.     Truly  yours, 

John  Joxes. 

But  putting  aside  correspondence  for  the  present, 
let  us  return  to  what  I  called  the  four  cardinal  virtues 
desired  in  a  book-keeper.  First,  as  to  accuracy.  The 
accountant  who  is  not  accurate  will  ruin  the  standing 
of  the  firm  who  employs  hi  m.  Of  course  m  i stakes  will 
happen,  but  they  must  not  "follow  fast  and  follow 
faster."  A  Detroit  merchant  needing  a  book-keeper, 
stated  a  supposed  error  in  the  books,  and  asked  each 
applicant  for  the  position  how  he  would  go  to  work  tr 
correct  it.     One  answered  this  way,  another  that;  e^oJi 


AT   TIIE    DESK.  DO 

one  had  a  theory,  and  some  of  them  very  i  ngen  ions  ones. 
But  none  of  them  suited  the  merchant  and  their  ser- 
vices were  declined.  At  last  a  young  man  came,  who, 
after  listening  to  the  supposed  error,  informed  the 
merchant  that  he  should  correct  it  by  never  making 
the  mistake  in  the  first  place;  and  he  was  the  man 
the  merchant  wanted.  Not  one  who  was  skillful 
in  correcting,  but  one  who  did  not  make  errors  was 
what  the  merchant  was  looking  after. 

"  My  account  is  not  correct,  sir,"  said  a  good  cus- 
tomer to  me  one  morning.  "  You  have  a  bill  there 
that  I  have  no  knowledge  of." 

"  It  is  possible  my  book-keeper  has  made  a  mis- 
take," I  answered.  "  Please  come  back  to  the  office 
and  we  will  look  it  up." 

After  referring  to  his  account  in  the  led o-er  and  then 
turning  to  the  sales-book,  I  found  the  book-keeper  had 
made  the  mistake  of  posting  a  bill  belonging  to  an- 
other party  to  his  account.  I  made  many  apologies 
to  him,  but  I  could  see  that  he  was  not  satisfied.  After 
paying  the  proper  amount  and  getting  his  receipt,  he 
turned  to  go  out.  "  Do  you  not  need  any  goods  this 
morning?"  I  asked. 

"Nothing  to-day." 

"  I  am  sony,  but  when  you  are  in  want,  I  hope  we 
shall  hear  from  you." 

"Well,  to  tell  you  just  how  I  feel,  Mr.  Blank,  I 
don't  like  this  kind  of  mistakes.  I  stopped  trading 
with  Smith  &  Co.  because  mistakes  were  too  frequent, 
and  I  prefer  to  do  business  where  they  don't  make 
blunders." 

5 


QQ  ON    THE    ROAD   TO    ETCHES. 

I  slaved  him  that  in  his  two  years'  business  with 
us  this  was  the  first  time  a  mistake  had  occurred,  but 
he  never  came  back  to  do  any  more  trading  with  us. 
lie  was  an  unreasonable  man,  I  admit,  but  then  you 
will  find  that  you  have  a  great  many  unreasonable  men 
to  deal  with. 

Another  day  a  Mr.  Brown  comes  in  and  tells  me  he 
wants  to  pay  his  account.  I  turn  to  my  book-keeper: 
"What  is  Mr.  Brown's  balance,  Walter?  " 

He  finds  his  account  and  foots  it  up:  "  $122.67,  sir." 
"  You  must  have  made  a  mistake,"  says  Brown,  "  or 
else  I  did."  Walter  runs  it  over  again.  "  I  did  make 
a  mistake;  it  is  $112.67."  "  That  agrees  with  mine,"  re- 
plies Brown,  "  and  I  see  I  am  ten  dollars  in  pocket  by 
having  my  memorandum  with  me."  Of  course  I  show 
him  we  would  have  discovered  the  error  when  balanc- 
ing the  account,  but  in  his  mind  remains  an  impres- 
sion that  the  book-keeper  made  the  mistake  willfully, 
and  we  must  suffer  for  it. 

This  brings  me  to  the  second  point — rapidity.  Many 
will  say  the  book-keeper  was  in  too  great  hurry,  or  he 
would  not  have  made  the  mistake.  Perhaps  this  is 
true  and  perhaps  not.  It  is  necessary  a  good  book- 
keeper shall  be  a  rapid  writer  and  calculator.  He 
should  be  able  to  do  two-thirds  of  his  calculations  men- 
tally, and  do  them  correctly,  too.  I  remember  two 
young  men  who  were  entry-clerks  in  the  same  house; 
each  wrote  a  good  hand,  and  were  equally  pleasant- 
natured,  enjoying  the  favor  of  the  firm  in  the  same 
degree.  But  John,  in  making  an  invoice,  could  do 
nearly  all  the   extensions  mentally,  while  Henry  was 


AT    THE    DESK.  67 

obliged  to  figure  out  on  paper  even  such  a  common 
sum  as  twelve  times  thirteen.  Naturally  John  was 
pushed  forward  and  became  book-keeper  when  a  va- 
cancy occurred,  while  Henry  is  still  plodding  on  as  an 
entry-clerk. 

I  was  so  fortunate  in  my  school-days  as  to  have  for 
a  teacher  a  man  who  had  a  great  appreciation  of  men- 
tal arithmetic.  The  average  teacher  looks  upon  mental 
arithmetic  as  a  mush-and-railk  dish  to  be  given  to  the 
minds  that  are  still  struggling  over  the  tact  that  d-o-g 
spells  dog.  Not  so  with  the  teacher  of  whom  I  write. 
As  an  accompaniment  to  the  higher  arithmetic  we 
were  kept  at  work  on  mental  calculations.  When  the 
cla^s  was  ready  the  problem  was  read,  and  he  was  the 
best  scholar  who  could  give  the  correct  answer  first. 
"We  were  not  permitted  to  suppose  that  we  knew  the 
multiplication  table  just  because  we  had  learned  12 
times  12;  we  were  sent  up  to  the  thirteens  and  the 
eighteens  and  the  thirty-eights,  and  expected  to  know 
them,  too.  Only  the  men  who  make  out  invoices  day 
after  day  know  how  much  advantage  such  experience 
as  this  is.     It  saves  time  and  saves  work. 

Now  this  is  something  that  every  clerk  can  teach 
himself.  If  in  extending  such  a  sum  as  12 times  344, 
we  see  the  clerk  begin  with  the  2  and  go  through  the 
sum;  then  with  the  1,  and  then  foot  up  these  two  pro- 
ducts, we  are  apt  to  say  he  is  a  long-winded  clerk; 
most  of  them  will  multiply  with  the  12  at  once,  and 
save  about  seven-eighths  of  the  work.  But  if  the  sum 
was  17  times  344,  it  ought  to  be  done  just  as  readily. 
It  is  as  easy  to  say  17  times  -i  are  GS;  17  times  4  are 


68  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

68,  and  6  are  74;  17  times  3  are  51,  and  7  are  58,  and 
have  the  answer  before  you  with  no  more  work — 5,82S, 
than  it  would  be  to  multiply  if  the  figures  were  12  in- 
stead of  17.  There  is  everything  in  practice,  and  the 
clerk  is  now  where  he  has  every  opportunity  to  prac- 
tice. 

I  fully  believe  correctness  is  a  habit  as  much  as  I 
believe  anything.  I  used  to  look  at  a  long  column  of 
figures  as  I  now  look  at  an  ice-cold  bath  in  mid-winter. 
I  disliked  to  tackle  it.  But  it  had  to  be  footed  up 
and  at  it  I  went;  up  and  down,  up  and  down,  and  it 
was  done.  !Now  to  prove  it.  Down  and  up;  down 
and  up  I  followed  the  figures,  and  halloo!  what's  up? 
I  made  a  mistake;  begin  again.  "Well,  I  would  go 
over  it  six  times  and  get  six  different  results,  and  then 
I  would  get — provoked.  But  it  had  to  be  done,  and  I 
had  to  keep  on  till  I  could  get  it  twice  alike.  I  saw 
this  had  to  be  changed,  and  the  thing  to  change  was 
my  habit  of  mixing  in  things  in  my  mind  with  the 
figures  I  was  footing.  Any  one  can  say  eight  and 
seven  are  fifteen,  but  if  he  says  eight  and  seven  are — 
and  just  then  he  remembers  how  pretty  Annie  was  last 
night — he  can  get  sixteen  out  of  those  figures  as  easy  as 
not.  I  concluded  I  would  get  control  of  that  mind  of 
mine,  and  the  time  came  when  I  didn't  worry  over  a 
column  of  figures,  unless  they  represented  so  many  bills 
coming  due. 

The  virtues  of  neatness  are  so  apparent  that  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  dwell  upon  them  here.  Merchants 
are  anxious  that  their  books,  the  history  of  the  house, 
shall  be  a  credit  to  them  when  their  successors  glance 


AT   THE    DESK.  69 

over  tlicin.  A  slovenly  accountant  ought  not  to  l>o 
tolerated  among  business  men.  I  had  a  neighbor  who 
lost  a  case  at  law  because  his  book-keeper  had  blotted 
the  account  so  thoroughly  that  he  could  not  swear  to 
the  items,  and  the  jury  could  not  do  otherwise  than  ac- 
cept the  sworn  testimony  of  the  defendant. 

There  are  so  many  details  to  the  duties  of  an  account- 
ant that  he  can  hope  to  see  everything  done  every  day 
only  by  establishing  a  system,  and  arranging  his  duties 
so  that  he  shall  have  a  time  for  everything.  "  I  for- 
got" are  words  that  ought  not  to  be  found  in  the  vo- 
cabulary  of  an  accountant.  A  book-keeper's  "  I  for- 
got "  once  ruined  a  large  jobbing  house.  They  had 
been  "tight"  in  money  matters  for  several  weeks,  and 
every  creditor  of  theirs  knew  it.  By  almost  superhu- 
man efforts  they  had  managed  to  keep  up  their  pay- 
ment.-, and  finally  entered  into  negotiations  with  one 
of  their  heaviest  creditors  by  which  he  would  advance 
them  the  money  needed  for  immediate  payments,  and 
carry  them  over  the  danger  that  had  been  threatening 
them.  But  their  book-keeper  "  forgot "  to  send  this 
creditor  a  very  important  list  until  it  was  too  late.  In 
the  meantime  a  note  had  gone  to  protest;  the  friend 
refused  to  do  anything  under  the  circumstances,  and 
the  house  was  obliged  to  suspend. 

The  work  of  each  day  ought  to  be  arranged  so  that 
each  hour  would  suggest  its  own  duties.  A  time  to 
post,  an  hour  to  answer  correspondence,  an  hour  to  at- 
tend to  banking  business,  an  hour  to  check  up  and 
journalize  bills,  etc.,  should  be  the  rule. 

And  there  are  other  things  to  "  keep  "  as  well  as 


70  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    KICHES. 

books;  one  is,  keep  your  lips  closed  about  your  em- 
ployer's business.  Neither  boast  of  the  money  he  is 
making,  nor  shake  your  head  over  dull  times.  If 
harm  comes  to  him  through  anything  you  may  reveal, 
you  may  be  sure  other  firms  will  guess  it,  and  you  will 
be  rightly  known  as  a  dangerous  man.  Keep  a  pri- 
vate debit  and  credit  account  with  yourself;  charge 
yourself  with  failures,  and  credit  successes.  You  will 
probably  find  it  the  most  unsatisfactory  of  all  accounts 
you  keep,  but  it  will  "  pay  "  in  the  long  run.  Do  not 
allow  your  interest  to  be  circumscribed  by  the  covers 
of  the  books  you  write  in.  If  you  do  you  will  become 
a  mere  machine.  Be  interested  in  the  store,  in  the 
stock,  in  the  cost  and  selling  prices  of  goods,  in  the 
men  who  write  to  the  firm  and  to  whom  you  write, 
and  always  and  at  all  times  in  improving  yourself. 


CASH. 


71 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

cash. 

Not  the  least  of  the  duties  of  the  book-keeper  is  to 
keep  the  cash  account,  while  it  is  generally  the  most 
perplex ing'of  all  accounts.  You  are  ready  to  go  home 
when  you  have  made  up  your  cash.  There  is  a  half- 
hour  for  this,  and  you//";"  it  will  come  out  straight  in 
half  that  time.  So  you  begin.  ( )n  your  boot  you  enter 
cash  received,  as  shown  by  the  debit  Bide  of  yonr  cash- 
book.  Against  this  you  place  cash  paid  out,  as  shown 
by  the  cash-book;  cash  paid  out  as  shown  by  the  petty 
blotter;  drafts,  bills,  currency  and  nickels  on  hand,  and 
then  you  foot  up.  How  provoking!  It  is  ten  dollars 
over.  You  go  over  your  figures  again.  Ah!  here  is 
an  error  of  twenty  dollars.  But  now  the  cash  is  ten 
dollars  short!  Over  the  figures  you  go  again  and 
again.  There  is  no  error  here,  and  the  cash  is  really 
short.  The  half-honryou  had  allotted  to  the  task  lias 
Long  been  gone,  and  still  you  are  no  nearer  a  balance. 
Yon  go  over  each  item  in  the  transactions  of  tin1  day; 
you  see  no  errors  there.  You  count  your  money  over 
again  in  a  helpless  way,  as  if  possibly  one  hundred  and 
ten  might,  by  some  happy  fancy,  turn  into  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty,  but  it  persists  in  remaining  just  one 
hundred  and  ten.     The  entry-clerk  can  give  you  no 


72  ON   THE    KOAD   TO    EICHES. 

assistance.  You  seek  the  proprietors  to  ask  them  for 
help.  "  No,"  says  one,  "  I  have  had  no  money  to-day." 
"Let  me  see,"  says  the  other,  "did  you  charge  me  with 
the  ten  dollars  you  gave  me  this  morning? "  Hurrah! 
that's  it!  And  you  are  so  haj)py  at  finding  the  error 
you  do  not  stop  to  apologize  for  the  greater  error  you 
have  been  caught  in — paying  out  money  without  charg- 
ing it. 

Of  course  you  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  there  is  no 
part  of  the  business  which  requires  more  carefulness 
than  the  taking  care  of  the  cash.  That  fact  is  a  self- 
evident  one;  and  the  book-keeper  who  does  not  keep 
his  cash  in  good  order — no  matter  how  well  he  may 
write  or  figure — is  soon  set  adrift. 

When  money  is  received  it  should  be  counted  care- 
fully before  being  put  out  of  your  hands.  A  sharp 
look-out  should  be  kept  for  counterfeits;  and  in  order 
to  be  posted,  you  should  ask  your  banker  to  keep  you 
informed  of  any  new  ones  that  come  to  him.  If  you 
have  any  doubt  as  to  the  genuineness  of  a  bill,  give 
yourself  the  benefit  of  the  donbt.  Place  a  ticket  upon 
it,  and  if  it  is  pronounced  counterfeit,  you  can  testify, 
without  hesitation,  as  to  the  package  of  money  the  bill 
was  received  in.  When  you  know  a  bill  is  counter- 
feit, place  a  ticket  upon  it,  stating  the  name  of  the 
party  from  whom  it  came,  and  the  date  received.  Then 
promptly  notify  him  of  the  fact,  and  ask  his  orders 
regarding  it.     I  would  write  like  this: 

"  Toledo,  Ohio,  July  31,  1880. 
"  JonN  Siirrn,  Esq. 

"  Dear  Sir:    We  are  in  receipt  of  your  remittance 

of  the  10th,  covering  $100,  but  we  find  enclosed  a  $20  bill  which 


casii. 


73 


is  counterfeit.  We,  consequently,  credit  you  with  $80  on  account. 
r  tee  inform  us  what  disposition  to  make  of  the  counterfeit. 
With  thanks  for  the  remittance,  we  remain, 

"Truly  yours, 

"Blank  &  Blank." 

Some  of  our  country  cousins  seem  to  think  that  it 
is  impossible  to  counterfeit  a  national  bank  bill,  and 
consequently  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  make  them  be- 
lieve that  they  have  sent  you  other  than  genuine  money. 
Hut  your  bankers  will  tell  you  that  the  number  of 
counterfeits  in  circulation  is  by  no  means  small,  and 
that  you  will  do  well  to  scrutinize  your  bills,  from  twos 
to  fifties. 

Your  cash-book  should  answer  any  question  about 
the  cash  that  will  ever  be  asked.  It  is  not  enough  to 
give  a  customer  credit  for  the  amount  of  money  paid 
you;  your  entry  should  show  just  what  the  character 
of  the  payment  was — whether  bills,  drafts  or  check; 
how  it  came — whether  b}^  mail  or  express;  or,  if  handed 
to  you,  by  whom  it  was  delivered.  Such  items  do  not 
occupy  many  minutes  in  the  making,  but 'circum- 
stances may  arise  when  this  information  will  be  of 
value. 

In  paying  out  money  it  is  well  to  be  equally  par- 
ticular. If  you  pay  out  drafts  or  checks,  the  number 
of  each  should  be  entered,  so  that  a  remittance  can  al- 
ways be  traced.  In  remitting  money,  you  should 
state  whether  it  is  "on  account,"  "in  full  of  account," 
or  in  payment  of  some  particular  bill.  Also  mention 
in  the  letter  the  character  <<t'  the  remittance,  and  if  it 
contains  drafts,  the  number  of  each  and  the  party  on 


71  OX   THE   KOAD    TO    KICIIES. 

whom  it  is  drawn.  A  good  form,  after  of  course  giv- 
ing the  firm  name,  and  the  words  "Dear  Sir,"  or 
"Gent'n,"  is  this: 

"  I  enclose  you  draft  No  15107  on  National  Park 
Bank,  New  York,  for  $158.57,  to  pay  bill  of  July  20th. 
Please  acknowledge  receipt." 

In  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  money  a  "thank 
you  "  is  never  thrown  away;  it  is  a  part  of  "  business." 
You  will  write:  "Dear  Sir: — Your  favor  of  the  15th 
came  duly  to  hand,  covering  draft,  $158.57,  and  the 
same  is  placed  to  your  credit  to  balance  bill  of  July 
20th.  With  thanks,  and  soliciting  a  continuance  of 
your  orders,  which  shall  always  have  our  prompt  atten- 
tion, we  are,"  etc. 

No  matter  who  may  be  waiting;  no  matter  what 
duty  may  be  pressing,  nothing  can  excuse  a  book-keeper 
for  half  attending  to  his  cash.  Either  do  not  receive  it, 
or  else  enter  it  carefully  and  fully.  Let  the  party  wait 
awhile  rather  than  to  pay  him  and  not  make  a  com- 
plete entry  of  the  payment. 

I  will  repeat  it  again,  for  it  will  bear  repeating — Be 
very  careful  of  the  cash. 

At  least  one  half  of  the  small  country  dealers  keep 
:io  books.  They  have  two  wire  hooks.  Upon  one  they 
put  their  bills;  on  the  other  their  receipts.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing,  when  they  have  checked  off  their  bills,  found 
prices  and  extensions  correct,  they  never  ri  fie  to  them 
again.  When  "  statements  "  come  in,  they  glance  at 
the  credits;  if  all  the  remittances  sent  are  accounted 
for,  they  are  satisfied;  but  if  they  fail  to  see  the  full 
number  of  credits,  you  may  expect  to  "  catch  it." 


casii.  7"> 

"  You  haven't  "given  me  credit  for  all  the  money  I 
have  sent  you,"  is  a  frequent  complaint.  I  was  gen- 
erally prepared  to  say,  k*  I  think  you  will  find  our  state- 
ment correct,"  because  the  book-keeper  was  tolerably 
careful  about  posting  cash.  But  I  said  it  to  a  customer 
one  day,  and  we  went  back  to  our  books  to  examine. 

••  Eave  you  the  date  of  the  remittance  that  was  no1 
credited?"  I  inquired. 

"  Yes.  June  20  I  paid  $25,  but  it  does  not  appear 
on  the  statement." 

I  turned  to  the  ledger;  no,  there  was  no  credit  under 
that  date  or  for  that  amount,  I  then  turned  to  the 
Cash-book, but  there  was  no  such  entry  there  under  date 
of  June  26th. 

"You  must  be  mistaken,  Mr.  Gibbs,  our  cash-book 
does  not  show  any  such  entry." 

"  But  I  did  pay  it,"  he  persisted,  ';  and  here  is  your 
book-keeper's  receipt,"  at  the  same  time  handing  me 
the  document. 

"  This  is  your  writing,  Walter,"  I  observed,  "how 
is  this?" 

I  was  really  sorry  for  the  young  man,  his  regret 
and  embarrassment  were  SO  evident. 

•"I  dont  see  how  it  could  have  happened,"  was  his 
answer;  but  upon  refering  to  the  book  where  he  kept 
daily  cash  balances  he  found  his  cash  was  sl;:>  over 
that  date.  We  explained  the  matter  to  Mr.  Gribbs,  but 
there  was  a  suspicion  in  bis  mind  that  the  book-keeper 
had  tried  to  pocket  the  money,  and  from  that  day  he 
always  paid  directly  to  my  partner  or  myself. 

I   have    spoken   of  drafts   received  from  your  cus- 


76  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    EICHES. 

tomers,  but  there  are  also  drafts  which  you  make  for 
bills  past  due,  and  those  drawn  on  you  by  your 
creditors. 

Here  let  me  say  a  word  about  those  two  unsatis- 
factory accounts,  "  Bills  Payable,"  and  "Bills  Beceiv- 
able."  I  remember  it  took  me  a  long  time  to  learn 
which  was  which.  At  first  I  could  not  make  out  any- 
thing about  them ;  then  I  began  to  think  all  notes 
went  to  one  account,  and  all  drafts  to  the  other;  then 
some  other  solution  appeared;  and  so  on  till  finally 
I  understood  them,  and  called  myself  very  stupid  for 
not  having  done  so  long  before.  If  some  one  had  told 
that  all  notes  or  drafts  which  we  had  to  pay  were  bills 
payable,  and  all  notes  or  drafts  which  had  to  be  paid 
to  us  were  bills  receivable,  I  would  have  been  thank- 
ful. 

In  these  days  of  printing  presses  it  is  not  economy 
to  write  out  drafts  or  notes.  It  is  much  cheaper  to 
have  them  printed,  and  a  handsome  draft  is  a  good 
advertisement.  You  can  buy  blank  drafts  at  any  sta- 
tioners, but  if  you  prefer  to  write  them,  they  should 
read  after  the  manner  of  this: 


Toledo,  Ohio,  October  12th,  1880. 
$150.50. 

Thirty  days  after  date  pay  to  the  order  of  Smith  Hall, 

Esq.,  Cashier ,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  and  50- 

100  Dollars,  value  received,  and  charge  the  same  to  account 
of  Blank  &  Blank. 

To  Philip  Murray,  Esq.,  ) 


Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 


This  is  supposing  you  send  the  draft  to  a  bank  to 


cash. 


collect  for  you.  And  if  yon  do  3-011  will  not  receive 
$150.50,  because  the  bank  will  deduct  the  "cost  of  col- 
lecting" or  "exchange."  Consequently  if  it  is  the 
duty  of  your  customer  to  pay  you  $150.50  at  your 
store,  and  of  course  all  bills  you  sell  are  payable  at  your 
store,  unless  otherwise  agreed,  you  should  insert  in  the 
draft  after  the  time,  the  words  "with  exchange."  Say, 
"at  sight,  with  exchange,"  or  "ten  days  after  date. 
with  exchange,"  as  the  case  may  be. 

In  sending  a  draft  or  a  note  to  a  bank  to  collect, 
remember  that,  in  the  absence  of  advice  to  the  contrary, 
the  banker  must  protest  the  paper  if  it  is  not  honored 
or  paid.  Knowing  this,  you  will  generally  mention 
"no  protest"  in  your  letter  accompanying  the  paper, 
unless  it  bears  an  endorsement.  Endorsed  paper  must 
be  protested  or  the  indorser  cannot  be  held  responsible. 

Drafts  drawn  on  your  house,  if  on  time,  must  be  ac- 
cepted or  dishonored.     To  accept  a  draft,  it  is  enough 
to  simply  write  the  name  of  the  firm  across  the  face  of 
the  draft.     But  it  is  more  ousiness-like  to  write  the 
word  "  Accepted  "  over  the  name,  and  to  make  it  pay- 
able at  the  bank  where  you  do  your  business.     Also, 
if  it  is  a  certain  number  of  days  "  after  sight,"  it  is  well 
to  write  the  date  when  the  draft  is  presented,  as  of 
course  the  time  begins  from  that  day.     Consequently 
if  you  were  going  to  accept  a  draft  drawn  on  you  at 
ten  days  sight,  you  would  write  across  the  face  of  the 
draft- 
Accepted.     Oct.  12,  IS 74. 
Payable  at  First  Kat.  Bank,  Toledo. 
Blank  &  Blank. 


'  N  ON   THE    EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

When  you  accept  a  draft,  you  should  charge  the 
party  who  draws  on  you  with  the  amount,  and  credit 
"  Bills  Payable." 

Notes  that  you  give  should  be  made  payable  at  your 
bank.  You  will,  of  course,  buy  blank  notes,  but  if 
you  write  out  one,  be  sure  to  have  it  regular.  If  I 
owed  John  Smith  fifty  dollars,  and  he  wanted  a  thirty 
days'  note,  I  would  write: 


Toledo,  Ohio,  Oct.,  12th,  1874. 
$50.00. 

Thirty  days  after  date,   for  value  received,  I  promise  to 

pay  to  the  order  of  John  Smith,  fifty  dollars,  at  the  First 

National  Bank,  Toledo,  Ohio.  Frank  Brown. 


Where  you  take  notes  from  your  customers  or  others, 
see  that  they  are  correctly  made  out  before  they  are 
signed,  because  it  is  unpleasant  to  have  t;o  confess  that 
you  made  a  mistake,  and  to  ask  that  a  new  note  be 
given. 

When  a  customer  has  remitted  for  a  note  which  you 
hold,  do  not  write  on  the  back  of  the  note  "  Paid, 
Blank  &  Blank,"  because  if  it  should  be  stolen  from 
the  mails  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  erase  the  word 
'•'Paid,"  and  then  the  paper  could  be  used  for  swind- 
ling purposes.  The  best  way  is  to  draw  your  pen 
through  the  signature  on  the  face,  and  write  the  word 
"  paid  "  across  the  face. 

We  might  do  as  the  Pennsylvania  men  did,  if  we 
were  all  as  honest.  Philip  borrowed  one  hundred  dol- 
lars from  Hank,  and  wrote  a  note  for  the  amount  due 
in  four  months.     The  question  then  arose  as  to  who 


CASH. 


79 


ought  to  have  possession  of  the  note,  and  it  was  de- 
cided that  Philip  should  keep  it,  so  that  he  would  know 
when  it  was  due.  When  he  paid  it  this  question  arose 
again,  and  it  was  then  decided  that  Hank  should  keep 
the  note,  so  that  whenever  he  saw  it  he  would  know 
Philip  had  paid  it! 

It  is  well  that  your  and  your  employers'  interest 
should  he  one,  but  beware  of  letting  this  feeling  carry 
you  to  the  point  when  you  shall  think  their  cash  is 
yours.  Keep  a  private  cash  account;  it  will  show  you 
where  you  have  thrown  away  a  ureat  deal  of  money  at 
the  end  of  the  year.  And  even  fools,  you  know,  learn 
from  experience. 


80  ON   THE   ROAD    TO    RICHES. 


CHAPTER   XIY. 


SELLING    GOODS. 


It  is  a  very  common  remark  that  good  salesmen  are 
born,  not  made.  I  believe  it  is  true.  But  it  does  not 
mean  that  a  man  is  born  a  good  salesman;  only  that 
what  makes  him  efficient  in  that  line  is  born  in  him. 
There  are  peculiar  natural  qualities  needed  to  make  a 
good  salesman,  and  if  a  man  does  not  have  these  he 
had  better  turn  his  attention  to  some  other  branch,  for 
he  cannot  succeed  here.  Yet  two  men  who  are  equally 
good  salesmen,  may  be  almost  totally  unlike;  almost, 
mind  you;  they  must  be  good  judges  of  human  nature. 
How  shall  you  become  a  good  judge  of  human  nature? 
You  might  as  well  ask  me  why  the  violets  are  blue;  I 
cannot  tell  you. 

You  need  to  know  human  nature  because  you  must 
please  the  person  with  whom  you  are  talking;  must 
make  a  pleasant  impression  on  him.  We  do  not  trade 
with  a  disagreeable  person  unless  we  are  obliged  to; 
we  often  buy  articles  we  did  not  expect  to  purchase 
just  because  the  man  who  waited  on  us  was  pleasant. 
Every  good  salesman  is  one  who  does  just  this:  he 
makes  himself  agreeable  to  the  person  he  is  waiting 
upon,  so  that  if  he  does  not  sell  him  more  than  he  in- 
tended to  buy,  he  sells  him  all  he  expected  to  purchase, 


BELLING   GOODS.  81 

and  sends  him  away  with  a  plea-ant  impression  of  the 
salesman.  Do  not  misconstrue  my  phrase,  "mal 
himself  agreeable;"  perhaps  you  have  been  making 
yourself  agreeable  to  some  young  lady,  and  think  the 
same  tactics  you  used  with  her  are  to  be  brought  into 
play  in  the  store.  You  could  not  make  a  greater  mis- 
take. 

When  a  person  enters  the  store  he  or  she  should  be 
met  with  respectful  politeness;  not  the  pigeon-wing 
flourish  yon  make  in  the  ball-room  when  the  prompter 
calls  "  salute  partners,"  but  a  salutation  that  digni 
the  person  you  address.  Don't  chipper  in  like  a  par- 
rot with,  "  What  can  I  show  you?  "  or,  "  What  is  it, 
sir  ?"  as  if  you  wanted  him  to  push  forward  his  busi- 
ness as  rapidly  as  possible.  Be  in  as  much  hurry  as 
you  please  yourself,  but  never  hurry  your  customer 
unless  you  are  sure  he  or  she  will  bear  it.  Do  not  vol- 
unteer advice  about  what  they  shall  buy,  if  you  have 
what  they  ask  for,  get  it  for  them,  and  while  you  are 
getting  it,  if  you  have  something  that  is  as  good  for 
less  money,  or  better  for  the  same  money,  mention  it, 
and  tell  of  its  merits,  and  people  will  give  you  a  better 
hearing  if  they  see  you  have  the  tiling  they  asked  for; 
if  they  did  not  see  this  they  would  think  you  were  out 
of  it  and  were  trying  to  get  them  to  decide  on  some- 
thing else  just  because  you  could  not  give  them  the 
article  they  wanted. 

Never  joke  unless  you  arc  sure  of  your  customer; 
never  volunteer  a  remark  unless  you  are  sure  the  cus- 
tomer will  be  pleased.  Men  often  pass  for  being  wise 
simply  because  they  keep  their  lips  closed,  and  many 

G 


82  ON    THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

merchants  get  rich  by  keeping  silent.  If  you  volunteer 
a  remark  bear  in  mind  that  what  you  are  aiming  at  is 
not  to  show  your  own  smartness  or  brilliancy,  but  to 
please  your  customer,  and  let  everything  you  say  have 
this  end  in  view.  Don't  get  into  any  argument  of  any 
kind  or  on  any  subject;  in  your  store  every  customer 
has  aright  to  his  own  opinions,  and  if  you  cannot  agree 
with  him  in  all  he  says  you  will  find  something  in  his 
views  or  creed  that  you  can  agree  with,  and  you  can 
make  the  most  of  that.  What  a  pity  that  this  spirit 
cannot  be  carried  with  us  out  of  our  stores,  and  that 
each  of  us  does  not  go  through  life  searching  for  that 
upon  which  we  might  all  agree  rather  than  quarrel  and 
bicker  over  little  points  of  difference. 

The  remarks  I  have  made  thus  far  have  been  with 
a  retail  salesman  in  mind,  but  they  hold  equally  good 
for  the  wholesale  salesman.  Year  by  year  the  drum- 
mers seem  to  become  more  numerous,  and  there  are  a 
variety  of  opinions  regarding  them  and  their  useful- 
ness. My  opinion  is  that  they  are  a  very  necessary 
part  of  business,  and  a  considerable  experience  as  one 
of  them  on  the  road,  and  in  dealing  with  them  in  my 
own  store,  leads  me  to  believe  that  they  are  no  better 
and  no  worse  than  the  rest  of  the  business  community. 
Now  and  then  a  retailer  writes  a  tirade  against  travel- 
ing salesmen,  and  probably  feels  better  for  having  done 
it,  but  it  does  not  proclaim  him  a  very  shrewd  man. 
There  are  good  and  bad  on  the  road,  just  as  the  men 
they  sell  to  are  good  and  bad,  and  the  retailer  need  not 
buy  of  any  of  them  unless  he  chooses.  But  the  shrewd 
merchants  of  to-day  know  that  they  can  buy  cheaper 


SELLING   GOODS.  83 

of  drummers,  as  a  rule,  than  they  can  of  the  proprietors. 
But  they  must  be  posted  and  well  posted;  drummers 
do  not  cut  unless  obliged  to,  and  talk  does  not  scare 
them  while  figures  do. 

Selling  goods  on  the  road  offers  an  opening  for  work- 
ing up  second  to  no  other  position.  The  traveling 
man  has  to  be  thoroughly  posted  in  his  business  or  he 
cannot  succeed;  he  must  be  a  good  judge  of  human 
nature  or  he  cannot  make  sales;  he  must  be  pleasant- 
natured  or  he  cannot  make  friends.  And  yet  one  sees 
a  great  many  mutton-headed  men  on  the  road,  and 
wonders  if  all  his  ideas  on  the  subject  are  good  for 
nothing;  for  if  these  men  succeed  then  his  experience 
is  most  assuredly  worthless. 

Here  was  a  man  in  my  store  an  hour  ago.  He  left 
a  valise  at  the  door  and  walked  back  where  I  was  get- 
ting out  an  order,  with  a  face  that  would  do  credit  to 
Praise-God-Barebones.  I  bid  him  "  good  morning," 
and  waited  for  him  to  open  up  h  is  batteries.  He  stands 
silent;  I  look  up  as  if  to  say  "  begin,"  but  he  looks 
like  an  owl,  and  says  nothing.     I  have  to  start  him. 

"  Well,  sir,  what  can  I  do  for  you? " 

"I  am  from  the  Blank  Manufacturing  Company." 

"  Yes,  sir."     I  wait  for  further  light. 

"  We  make  table  cutlery." 

"Yes?" 

"  I  was  here  last  fall,  and  you  promised  me  an 
order." 

"  Our  arrangements  for  table  cutlery  are  made  for 
this  spring,  sir." 

"You  ^promised  last  fall  you  would  give  me  an 
order." 


84  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

"Yes?  I  Lave  forgotten  it;  but  I  could  do  nothing 
with  you  now,  we  are  filled  up." 

"Without  another  word  he  takes  a  "left  face," 
picks  up  his  valise  as  if  keeping  time  to  the  Dead 
March  in  Saul,  and  goes  out.  I  have  a  quiet  laugh 
over  his  style  of  doing  things.  I  say  to  myself,  "If 
he  succeeds  who  need  fail? " 

But  here  comes  a  different  man. 

"Good  morning,    sir;  I  am  from  the Cutlery 

Company;  I  see  you  are  pretty  well  filled,  but  if  you 
can  spare  a  few  minutes  during  the  day  I  would  be 
glad  to  show  you  my  samples;  you  might  find  some 
desirable  patterns,  and  if  you  don't  want  any  goods 
to-day  you  will  some  other  time." 

Of  course  I  will  look  at  his  samples;  not  to  please 
him  entirely,  but  to  post  myself  up;  he  may  have  some 
goods  that  I  will  be  glad  to  add  to  my  stock;  if  he 
hasn't  why  it  doesn't  cost  anything  to  look  his  sam- 
ples over. 

Here  comes  a  little  fellow  with  "  Boston  "  written 
all  over  him;  he  is  selling  a  patent  paring-knife,  and 
goes  to  work  at  me  as  he  would  at  a  kitchen  girl,  if 
trying  to  sell  one  to  her;  he  is  pert  and  "  drefful  smart;" 
his  knife  is  a  good  thing  and  might  sell,  but  I  wouldn't 
take  them  from  him  as  a  gift. 

Here's  a  New  Yorker — a  loud  one.  "  Good  morn- 
ing; are  you  the  proprietor? " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"Ah,  yes,  I'd  forgotten  you;  what's  the  news?" 

(He  had  never  seen  me  before,  nor  I  him;  I  never 
forget  faces.) 


SELLING    GOODS.  85 

I  wait  for  him  to  open  up,  but  lie  asks  again, 
"What's  the  news?" 

What  shall  I  tell  him?  My  porter  is  home  because 
he's  had  an  increase  in  his  family,  but  he  wouldn't  be 
interested  in  that.  I  don't  know  any  news,  but  he 
stands  there  waiting  for  something;  at  last  I  desper- 
ately say,  "  There  isn't  anything  new."  That  seems 
to  satisfy  him,  so  he  opens  up  with  his  story. 

"  How  is  your  stock  of  revolvers  %  " 

"  Full,  just  now." 

'  Where  do  you  buy  ? " 

(That's  none  of  his  business,  so  I  answer  vaguely): 

"  In  New  Fork." 

"  We  are  headquarters  on  cheap  revolvers;  can  sell 
you  a  nickel-plated  seven-shooter  for  81-85." 

"  That  is  cheap,"  I  answer,  though  I  had  just  got 
some  in  at  Si. 80. 

"  Couldn't  you  use  a  few?  " 

"Xot  just  now." 

"Did  yon  buy  better  than  that?" 

That  is  a  question  I  don't  care  to  answer,  so  I  say, 
"We  have  all  we  need  just  now." 

"Well,  remember  ns  when  you  want  some  more; 
we  can  give  you  better  figures  than  any  other  house  in 
the  trade,"  and  he  goes  on  his  way.  I  would  buy  of 
him  providing  his  prices  were  lower  than  everybody's 
else,  but  not  otherwise. 

Here  is  a  middle-aged  man  who  evidently  knows  his 
business.  lie  is  selling  an  article  with  an  established 
reputation;  we  are  not  handling  it.  lie  proceeds  to 
show  us  where  it  would  be  for  our  interest  to  sell  his 


§Q  ON   THE   EOAD   TO   KICHES. 

goods;  we  do  not  see  it  just  as  he  does  and  decline  to 
give  an  order.  "Well,  he  will  come  in  and  see  us  when 
our  way  again ;  perhaps  we  will  change  our  mind.  Of 
course  we  tell  him  to  come,  and  part  from  him  feeling 
kindly  disposed  toward  him  and  his  wares. 

But  here  is  a  fellow  who  will  not  take  "no"  for  an 
answer.  After  we  tell  him  we  do  not  need  anything 
in  his  line  he  begins  with  each  item  in  detail  and 
endeavors  to  show  us  we  do  need  it.  But  he  is  more 
tedious  than  he  is  convincing,  and  we  are  glad  to  see 
hi  in  go  out  the  door. 

But  no  one  of  these  men  is  a  type  we  would  care  to 
follow  exclusively,  so  we  must  examine  the  matter  in 
detail. 


THE    TRAVELING    MAN.  87 


CHAPTER  XT. 


THE   TRAVELING    MAN. 


There  seems  to  be  a  decided  difference  of  opin- 
ion among  business  men  as  to  the  need  of  travel- 
ing salesmen.  One  merchant  looks  upon  them  as  a 
help,  another  puts  them  under  the  head  of  a  curse. 
One  retailer  thinks  he  buys  cheaper  because  of  them, 
another  is  satisfied  that  the  traveling  salesman  adds  an 
extra  price  to  his  bills.  Some  of  the  largest  wholesale 
houses  dispense  with  them  entirely,  while  others 
systematize  their  trade  so  that  it  appears  to  be  wholly 
dependent  upon  their  traveling  men.  But  whether 
this  class  of  employees  benefit  trade  or  not,  we  may 
accept  them  as  a  necessary  evil,  and  depend  upon  their 
remaining  always  with  us. 

Just  so  long  as  some  houses  send  out  traveling  men 
most  houses  must  employ  them.  The  firm  that  would 
dare  to  dispense  with  drummers  to-day  must  be  exceed- 
ingly sure  of  their  customers,  and  must  expect  to  be 
lavish  with  printed  matter.  And  the  retailer  who  sits 
hack  at  his  dignity  and  says  "he  does  not  buy  of 
drummers,"  is  not  wise.  The  great  volume  of  trade 
is  done  through  traveling  men.  and  this  way  of  doing 
business  has  its  advantages  if  it  has  also  its  disadvan- 
tages. 


88  ON   THE    KOAD   TO    RICHES. 

One  reason  why  traveling  men  have  grown  into  dis- 
favor is  because  care  has  not  been  taken  in  selectinjr 
men  to  go  on  the  road.  There  has  grown  up  a  popu- 
lar impression  that  but  two  things  were  needed — 
tongue  and  cheek,  and  if  a  young  man  appeared  to  be 
possessed  of  these  two  qualities  in  large  degree,  he  was 
at  once  selected  to  go  out  on  the  road.  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  this  idea  is  not  so  prevalent  now.  The  hard 
times  have  cut  down  orders  to  such  an  extent  that  not 
every  one  who  comes  along  can  sell  a  bill  of  goods, 
and  it  has  gradually  come  to  light  that  the  loud- 
mouthed fellows  are  the  ones  who  are  left  out  in  the 
cold.  So  if  you  have  had  thoughts  of  copying  one  of 
these  men  you  will  do  well  to  change  your  mind. 

What  are  the  requisites  of  a  traveling  salesman? 
This  is  a  difficult  question  to  answer,  and  all  the  more 
difficult  because  when  there  come  before  my  mind 
several  men  who  are  good  salesmen,  I  find  no  two  of 
them  alike.  Oftentimes  I  have  met  two  men  on  the 
road  who  were  known  as  first-class  drummers,  and  have 
been  surprised  to  see  that  they  seemed  to  be  totally 
unlike  in  everything.  Of  course  the  men  they  sell  to 
are  not  alike,  and  it  may  be  that  one  suits  one  class 
of  merchants  and  the  other  another.  Yet  I  think  at 
the  bottom  the  drummers  will  be  found  alike  in  a  few 
points. 

I  would  put  as  the  first  requisite  of  a  traveling 
salesman,  that  he  should  be  a  good  judge  of  human 
nature,  and  quick  to  read  other  men's  minds,  so  that 
in  making  a  statement  he  could  follow  in  his  hearers' 
mind  its  effects,  and  be  prepared  to  stop  or  go  on  at 


THE    TRAVELING   MAN.  89 

the  right  moment.  The  stupid-headed  mangoes  on 
with  his  tale  till  it  is  finished,'  though  he  may  be  weary- 
ing hi.-  listener  almost  beyond  endurance;  but  his 
<juick-witted  brother  would  have  le£t  the  story  and 
caught  up  another  thread  that  was  of  some  concern  to 
his  auditor. 

The  traveling  man  mustjbe  educated,  but  not  neces- 
sarily with  a  mere  text-book  knowledge.  Ourschools 
turn  out  a  grist  of  graduates  every  year,  who  take  their 
places  as  "educated"  person-;  indeed  they  speak  of 
themselves  as  having  finished  their  education!  hut  while 
they  may  know  a  smattering  of  many  things,  they  soon 
find  they  know  nothing  thoroughly,  for  he  only  is  edu- 
cated who  has  Learned  to  use  knowledge  in  every  day 
life.  A  man  ought  to  be  prepared  to  talk  of  other 
matters  besides  those  that  are  connected  with  his  busi- 
ness. In  most  offices  the  drummer  is  invited  "to 
take  a  seat"1;  business  is  rarely  opened  at  once,  and 
the  man  who  can  talk  intelligently  of  the  topics  of  the 
day  has  a  chance  to  make  a  good  impression  before 
business  is  reached.  Then  our  traveling  man  is  fre- 
quently invited  to  the  homes  of  his  customers,  where 
the  ladies  of  the  household  will  pass  judgment  upon 
him,  and  this  may  increase  or  cut  off  his  trade  with 
that  house  forever, 

But  of  course  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the 
importance  of  education  in  any  pursuit.  The  man 
who  does  not  know  that  every  hour  spent  in  increasing 
his  knowledge  is  an  hour  paid  for  subsequently  a 
thousand  times  over,  is  a  man  who  needs  a  guardian 
over    him.     Even  a  drayman  who  reads  the  papers  is 


90  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    KICIIES. 

a  better  drayman  than  one  who  does  not;  he  is  more 
of  a  man,  and  it  is  the  amount  of  manhood  in  a  man 
that  makes  him  valuable. 

Then  our  drummer  must  be  a  gentleman.  Of  course 
be  must,  do  you  say?  Then  wby  are  so  many  men 
sent  out  who  are  not  gentlemen?  A  gentleman  wins 
the  goodw  will  of  bis  customers  by  his  uniform, 
kind-hearted  politeness.  This  is  not  a  politeness 
learned  at  dancing  scbool ;  one  that  teacbes  a  man  to 
say  "  thank  you,"  with  a  certain  bow  as  an  accom- 
paniment, when  a  favor  comes  from  a  superior,  and 
omits  it  all  when  waited  upon  by  an  inferior,  but  the 
politeness  tbat  is  inherent  in  a  gentleman,  born  in  him, 
bred  in  him  at  bis  mother's  knee,  or  else  is  not  in  him 
at  all.  A  gentleman  enters  a  store,  and  if  the  propri- 
etor is  busy  he  does  not  obtrude  himself  until  he  is 
at  leisure.  His  greeting  is  not  a  boisterous  shout  that 
is  learned  from  hotel  porters;  his  representations  of 
his  goods  are  in  words  that  carry  conviction,  and  even 
though  the  customer  be  not  a  polished  man  he  is  in- 
fected with  and  appreciates  the  politeness  of  the  other. 
Don't  make  a  mistake;  free  and  easy  manners  are 
tolerated,  but  the  manners  of  a  gentleman  are  a  sure 
passport  to  success.  If  you  cannot  read  faces  stay  at 
home.  If  you  are  not  quick  at  adapting  yourself  to 
your  company,  don't  go  on  the  road.  You  will  be 
laughed  at  before  your  first  day  is  over.  You  go  into 
a  store,  the  proprietor  of  which  is  an  entire  stranger 
to  you.  You  hope  he  is  a  "  good  fellow,"  but  you 
must  "  trust  to  luck."  You  look  up  and  down  the 
counter  until  one  face  strikes  you,  and  you  go  towards 


THE   TRAVELING   MAN.  91 

it.  It  belongs  to  the  proprietor.  Instead  of  finding 
the  kind  of  man  popularly  called  a  "good  fellow," 
you  see  that  he  is  a  stern  man  who  "wants  no  non- 
sense" and  "talks  business."  In  a  Hash  you  are  that 
hind  of  a  man  yourself.  You  compress  your  remarks 
into  short,  telling  sentences,  and  watch  him  narrowly. 
When  he  says  he  wants  nothing  in  your  line  to-day 
you  know  he  means  it.  You  will  probaly  sell  him  the 
next  trip,  because  you  took  him  as  he  is,  while  if  you 
had  begun  with  a  stale  joke  or  an  attempt  at  being 
free  and  easy,  you  would  have  disgusted  him  so  much 
that  you  could  never  have  sold  him,  no  matter  how- 
low  his  stock  might  have  been. 

A  traveling  salesman  must  thoroughly  understand 
his  business.  You  knew  this  before,  did  you?  But 
what  do  you  mean  when  you  say  you  understand  your 
business?  I  dare  say  you  mean  that  you  know  all  the 
kinds  of  goods  on  your  shelves,  what  they  cost,  and 
what  they  are  selling  for  in  the  market.  But  that  is  only 
a  small  part  of  what  you  ought  to  know  about  them. 
You  ought  to  know  how  they  are  manufactured,  all 
about  the  duties,  if  imported  goods,  and  then  be  as 
well  posted  about  similar  goods  sold  by  other  hon 
so  that  you  can  point  ont  the  difference  if  there  be  any 
between  their  goods  and  your  own. 

I  had  a  young  man  selling  in  Michigan  who  con- 
stantly wrote  home  complaints  that  our  goods  were 
marked  at  too  high  cost.  He  could  not  sell  this,  that 
or  another  man  because  they  bought  goods  as  low  as 
we  did.  I  tried  to  get  some  particulars  from  him,  but 
had    to  wait  till   he  came  home,  when  I  found  he  had 


92  ON    THE    ROAD   TO   RICHES. 

been  comparing  a  first-class  American  article  with  a 
cheap  German  imitation  of  it.  Of  course  the  latter 
was  selling  cheaper,  but  my  man  was  not  sharp  enough 
to  see  the  difference  and  explain  it.  lie  did  not  make 
a  second  trip. 

It  is  not  enough  to  know  that  a  certain  article  costs 
si;  per  dozen,  and  ought  to  sell  for  $6.50.  You  ought 
to  know  iii  what  respect  it  is  better  or  worse  than  the 
same  article  made  by  others,  whose  goods  you  do  not 
keep.  If  your  customer  has  bought  it  for  six  dollars 
you  can  show  him  where  the  difference  is.  The  day 
has  gone  by  when  you  can  put  down  some  one's  goods 
by  saying  "mine  are  better;"  the  dealer  has  heard 
that  too  often ;  but  he  is  a  man  of  sense  and.  ready  to 
be  convinced  by  plain  reasons. 

But  all  the  good  qualifications  of  our  drummer  will 
go  for  little  unless  he  is  a  man  of  good  judgment.  .  It 
is  said  that  "  any  fool  can  sell  goods,  but  it  takes  a  wise 
man  to  sell  goods  for  a  profit  to  good  men."  A  trav- 
eling man  has  many  inducements  offered  him  to  take 
risks  as  to  his  customers  paying.  He  is  out  to  sell  goods. 
If  he  does  not  give  the  house  satisfaction  in  the  amount 
of  his  sales,  he  will  lose  his  situation .  He  comes  across 
a  retailer  who  is  not  in  very  good  standing;  one  whom 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  he  would  not  think  of 
selling;  but  during  the  last  few  days  trade  has  been 
very  light,  and  he  is  worrying  because  he  has  no  orders 
to  send  in  to  the  house.  Here  is  a  chance  to  get  one; 
the  man  will  probably  pay  it;  he  must  be  paying  other 
houses  or  he  could  not  get  goods,  and  he  always  scons 
to  have  plenty  of  stock;  he  will  be  sharp  in  collecting 


THE   TRAVELING    MAX.  93 

next  times  he  comes;  the  temptation  is  too  Btrongand 
he  sells  him  a  large  bill  of  goods. 

There  are  many  things  to  be  said  in  extenuation  of 
the  salesman's  fault,  but  for  all  that  he  is  not  a 

man  to  have  on  the  road.  If  times  are  bad  it  is  known 
at  borne,  and  due  allowance  made  for  him.  If  trade  is 
bad  for  only  a  few  days  the  firm  understand  it,  or  else 
they  are  no  business  men;  consequently  there  is  not 
the  slightest  actual  need  of  bis  placing  so  much  of  his 
house's  money  in  jeopardy,  just  to  bolster  up  himself. 

The  traveling  man  should  have  a  correct  knowledge 
of  the  proper  form  in  which  to  write  out  drafts  and 
notes;  and  it  will  be  of  great  advantage  to  him  if  he 
has  had  experience  at  the  book-keeper's  desk.  1  have 
seen  men  on  the  road  who  could  not  write  a  receipt  as 
it  ought  to  be  written. 

Another  requisite  of  our  traveling  man  is  a  knowl- 
edge of  business  law.  There  will  be  times  when  he 
will  have  to  act  promptly,  in  order  to  save  his  house 
from  loss,  and  if  he  is  posted  in  the  details  of  the  law 
governing  the  collection  of  debts,  he  saves  time  when 
time  most  surely  is  money. 

Really,  I  seem  to  have  made  out  a  fearful  list  of  re- 
quirements, have  I  not?  Very  few  traveling  men  pos- 
sess all  these  advantages,  but  the  men  who  have  the 
most  of  them  are  the  most  successful  salesmen.  But 
be  sure  of  this:  all  that  goes  toward  making  a  man  a, 
good  merchant  is  needed  on  the  road  by  a  traveling 
salesman,  as  well  as  by  the  proprietor  at  home.  I  am 
one  man  in  your  store — an  entirely  different  man  under 
my  own  roof.     When  I  come  to  the  city  I  come  to  buy, 


04:  ON   THE    EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

and  I  want  to  be  expeditions.  "When  you  come  to  ray 
store  you  want  to  sell  much  more  urgently  than  I  want 
to  buy,  and  it  is  you  who  count  the  hours.  I  may  be 
induced  to  buy;  I  may  be  importuned  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  I  will  never  buy  a  dollar's  worth  [of  goods 
from  your  house  again. 

The  traveling  salesman  who  works  up  is  the  man 
who  holds  his  trade — not  he  who  sells  a  great  many 
goods  one  trip  and  only  a  few  the  next;  and  no  man 
can  hold  a  trade  unless  he  treats  his  customers  squarely 
and  fairly.  The  man  who  built  his  house  on  the  sand 
was  a  type  of  the  salesman  who  expected  to  succeed  in 
life  by  dishonest  tricks.  Never  misrepresent  your 
goods;  always  have  your  word  a  warrant,  and  endeavor 
to  make  your  customer  your  friend.  And  I  venture 
to  say  no  young  man  fever  started  out  in  life  with  a 
determination  to  succeed,  having  such  principles  for 
his  motto,  but  that  lie  did  succeed,  and  the  only  suc- 
cess that  is  true  success  is  that  which  is  gained  hon- 
estly. 


LEAVES    FROM   A   DKU.MMl'k's    EXPERIENCE.  (J5 


CHAPTER   XYI. 

LEAVES  FKOM   A   DRUMMER'S   EXPERIENCE. 

T  was  led  to  go  out  on  the  road  as  a  salesman,  not 
because  I  fancied  it  would  be  an  easy  task  to  sell 
g  iod8j  nor  that  the  prospect  of  traveling  at  some  one's 
else  expense  was  peculiarly  inviting,  hut  because 
I  had  figured  out  to  my  own  satisfaction  that  the 
traveling  man  was  the  most  important  factor  in  doing 
business,  and  that  the  surest  way  to  success  was  in 
building  up  a  trade. 

I  had  been  clerk,  book-keeper  and  cashier,  and  con- 
sidered  myself  tolerably  proficient,  but  I  saw  that  there 
were  twenty  men  ready  to  step  into  my  place  if  I  cared 
to  give  it  up  at  any  time,  and  men  fully  as  expert  as 
J  was;  men  who  would  have  filled  the  position  for  less 
pay  than  I  was  receiving.  On  the  other  hand,  I  noticed 
the  traveling  man  was  secure  in  his  place,  that  his 
opinion  was  always  Bought  after  and  always  treated 
with  respect,  and  that  he  could  not  be  disturbed  with- 
out more  or  less  risk  to  the  business  on  his  route. 

But  could  I  sell  goods  if  1  went  out?  I  thought  I 
could;  I  had  tried  my  hand  at  selling  in  the  store  in 
a  Pew  eases,  and  while  I  had  not  done  much,  1  was 
confident  it  was  in  me  to  sell.  1  said,  to  the  senior  that 
I  would   like  to  make  a  trip  over  a  route  that  was  not 


06  OX   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

drummed  by  the  house  as  it  ought  to  be,  but  I  was 
laughed  at.  I  dropped  the  matter  then,  but  returned 
to  it  a  few  days  after. 

"  Do  you  mean  it?  "  he  asked. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"How  many  goods  can  you  sell?"  was  the  next 
question. 

"  I  don't  know;  I  never  tried." 

"  But  you  think  you  could  sell  if  you  had  a  chance, 
do  you?" 

"  I  think  I  could." 

jSTothing  was  decided  then,  but  in  a  day  or  two  I 
returned  to  the  subject,  arid  it  was  decided  I  might 
make  a  trial  trip  of  one  week;  if  I  did  well  I  wras  to 
keep  on  and  finish  the  route;  if  I  had  bad  luck  I  was 
to  come  home  at  the  end  of  the  week. 

"  What  do  you  call  doing  well?"  I  asked. 

""Well,  P.  averages  about  nine  hundred  dollars  a 
week,  and  we  are  satisfied  with  it.  G.  thinks  himself 
an  extra  good  salesman,  and  he  does  sell  some  big 
bills,  but  his  sales  will  not  run  over  one  thousand  dol- 
lars a  week.  If  you  can  sell  one  hundred  dollars  a  day 
I  shall  consider  you  are  doing  veiy  well,  and  will  advise 
you  to  keep  on  and  finish  the  route." 

The  stock-clerk  got  out  a  line  of  samples  forme,  while 
I  took  a  blank  book  and  began  at  one  corner  of  the 
store  putting  down  alphabetically  every  item  in  the 
stock,  with  numbers,  sizes  and  cost.  When  this  was 
done,  samples  packed  in  a  trunk  and  valise,  I  drew  off 
a  sketch  of  my  route,  names  of  customers,  and  then 
wrote  each  one  as  follows:  • 


LEAVES   FROM   A   DKUMMEb's    EXPEBIENOE.  07 

"Dear  Sir:  Our  Air.  M.  will  call  on  you  in  a  few  days  with  a 
fall  line  of  samples,  and  we  hope  you  will  be  in  need  of  BOmeof 
our  goods,  and  can  give  him  an  order.  It  is  his  first  trip,  and 
even  a  very  small  order  will  encourage  him  greatly.  Any  favors 
you  may  show  him  will  be  greatfully  appreciated,  not  only  by 
him  but  by 

'•Yours  very  truly,  etc." 

When  the  perliminaries  were  finished  I  sent  my 
trunk  to  the  depot,  while  I  tucked  away  price-book 
and  order-book  in  my  coat  pockets.  Just  now  I  was 
not  sure  whether  I  most  wanted  to  go  or  stay.  I  did 
not  like  to  fail  when  I  undertook  a  task,  but  I  could 
not  help  thinking  that  there  were  more  reasons  on  the 
surface  for  my  failing  than  for  my  being  successful. 
It  was  too  late  to  back  out  however.  I  looked  at  the 
list  of  towns  again  and  bought  a  ticket  with  many 
misgivings. 

As  I  was  a  new  man,  and  this  a  trial  trip,  I  was  booked 
for  some  towns  that  our  house  had  never  visited.  My 
first  stopping  place  was — well,  I  will  omit  the  name; 
most  of  the  men  I  saw  then  are  still  doing  business 
there. 

The  month  was  March;  the  weather  rainy;  and  as 
this  was  many  years  ago,  the  country  about  Toledo 
was  half  submerged  in  water.  The  picture  from  the 
car  window  was  anything  but  inviting,  and  my  spirits 
began  to  drop.  I  was  sorry  when  the  cars  stopped  and 
the  conductor  shouted  out  the  station.  The  place  was 
a  first-class  mud-hole.  The  houses  were  small  affairs, 
and  the  stores  about  as  shabby  as  the  houses.  Hooked 
for  the  hotel,  but  none  was  in  sight  of  the  depot.  I 
went  into  a  small  saloon  and  inquired  about  the  hotel, 

7 


93  ON   THE   EOAD   TO    EICHES. 

and  had  it  pointed  out  to  me.  A  few  minutes  after- 
ward I  made  the  landlord's  acquaintance  and  sent  him 
after  my  sample  trunk,  which  was  still  standing  on  the 
platform  of  the  depot  exposed  to  the  rain.  Then  I 
struck  out  for  business.  I  was  selling  a  line  of  goods 
that  includes  articles  kept  by  dealers  in  almost  every 
bianch  of  trade.  If  he  was  a  grocer  I  had  a  few 
things  to  offer  him ;  it  was  the  same  with  the  dry  goods, 
and  other  dealers.  The  first  store  ahead  of  me  was  a 
grocery.  I  mentally  prayed  for  success,  would  gladly 
have  turned  and  run,  but  I  put  on  a  bold  face  and 
raised  the  latch.  A  young  man  stood  behind  the 
counter,  and  to  him  I  gave  a  "  good-morning."  He 
returned  it  very  pleasantly,  and  I  was  near  enough  to 
offer  my  card.  Of  course  there  were  half  a  dozen 
loungers  in  the  store,  and  each  of  them  sat  with  eyes 
and  mouth  wide  open  to  see  and  hear  all  of  me  that 
he  could.  I  have  disliked  country  loafers  from  that 
day  to  this. 

The  young  man  after  reading  my  card,  informed  me 
that  the  store  belonged  to  his  father,  who  was  not  in 
at  present. 

"  Would  he  be  in  during  the  day?" 

"Yes,  he  thought  he  would." 

I  ran  my  eyes  over  the  stock  and  saw  a  great  many 
articles  in  my  line;  it  struck  me  that  my  first  duty  was 
to  pump  that  young  man;  I  wanted  to  know  what  they 
paid  for  goods,  so  as  to  govern  myself  accordingly. 

"  You  keep  a  few  things  in  my  line,"  said  I,  by  way 
of  opening  matters. 

"  Yes,  we  keep  a  little  hardware." 


LEAVES   FROM   A   DRUMMER'S   EXPERIENCE.  99 

"  Do  you  buy  in  Toledo)  " 

"  Yes,  mostly;  once  in  a  while  father  orders  a  bill 
from  Cleveland." 

"Whom  did  you  buy  these  from?"  pointing  to 
some  shovels. 

He  named  the  firm. 

"  I  think  I  can  save  you  some  money  on  those 
goods,"  I  suggested,  by  way  of  a  feeler,  and  I  asked, 
in  a  low  voice,  so  the  loafers  could  not  hear  us,  "  What 
did  this  shovel  cost  you  ?" 

He  named  the  price;  not  an  unreasonable  one  for 
the  amount  of  goods  his  father  would  naturally  buy, 
though  more  than  we  were  asking  for  them  from  ex- 
clusive hardware  men.  Of  course  I  must  make  first 
impressions  favorable  if  I  could,  so  I  said  earnestly 
that  if  his  father  needed  any  more  of  those  goods  I 
could  do  better  than  the  price  paid  for  these. 

I  then  led  him  to  other  articles  and  carefully  laid 
away  the  items  I  gathered  from  him,  to  be  used  by- 
and-by  when  I  should  see  his  father.  After  getting 
all  the  information  that  I  could,  I  went  away  with  a 
promise  to  call  again  in  the  afternoon.  I  next  went 
into  a  store  "where  I  came  face  to  face  with  the  pro- 
prietor, lie  was  a  pleasant  young  man,  and  I  had 
quite  a  chat  with  him  before  I  touched  upon  trade. 
When  we  came  down  to  business,  I  could  not  get  an 
order  out  of  him  then,  but  I  saw  he  was  pliable  and 
I  had  hopes  that  I  could  gain  my  ends  by  another  visit. 

From  there  I  went  to  the  largest  store  in  the  place, 
and  found  only  the  clerk  in.  I  made  myself  friendly 
with  him,  picking  up  all  the  odds  and  ends  of  infor- 


100  ON   TIIE    ROAD   TO    RICIIES. 

mation  I  could,  and  by  that  time  the  hotel  bell  was 
ringing:  for  dinner. 

It  was  my  first  dinner  in  the  country,  and  such  a 
dinner  !  Coffee,  without  milk;  bread,  no  butter; 
boiled  potatoes,  and  fat  fried  pork.  I  was  not  hungry 
enough  to  enjoy  it.  After  going  through  the  motions 
of  eating  I  sallied  out  again,  determined  that  when 
night  came  I  would  have  some  orders. 

I  called  at  the  store  where  I  had  made  my  first 
visit  in  the  morning.  The  father  was  there,  and  a 
polite  but  tough  old  fellow  he  was.  He  was  ready  to 
do  anything  for  me  but  to  give  me  an  order.  lie  did 
not  believe  there  was  a  thing  he  wanted,  and  if  he  did 
he  was  running  into  Toledo  every  day  or  two  and  could 
get  it.  I  struggled  with  him  a  long  time,  and  finally 
got  an  order  from  him.  As  soon  as  I  got  out  the 
door  I  footed  it  up  and  saw  it  amounted  to  $35.  So 
far,  so  good  ! 

Then  I  "  went  for  "  the  others,  and  took  four  orders 
before  supper-time,  amounting  with  the  first  one  to 
$210. 

The  dealer  who  did  the  largest  business  of  any  in 
the  place  was  the  only  one  that  I  had  nol  sold,  and  he 
was  in  his  store  only  after  supper.  I  was  promptly 
on  hand  and  found  him  to  be  an  immovable  German. 
I  could  hardly  understand  him,  and  he  seemed  to  be 
equally  as  much  at  a  loss  to  understand  me. 

It  was  difficult  to  be  sociable  under  these  circum- 
stances, especially  as  my  best  stories  drew  nothing 
from  him  but  a  stolid  "yes"  or  "no."  It  was  still 
more  difficult  to  get  him  to  come  and  look  at  my  sam- 


LEAVES   FROM   A   DRUMMER'S   EXPERIENCE.         101 

pies,  but  as  I  was  about  despairing  lie  finally  agreed  to 
go  look  at  them  "yust  to  blease"  me.  I  had  the 
goods  spread  out  in  the  hotel  parlor;  their  number  was 
legion;  I  showed  them  to  him,  dilating  with  fervor 
upon  the  merits  of  each  particular  article,  but  getting 
not  even  a  wink  in  return.  I  was  getting  to  the  last 
card  and  still  I  had  not  started  him ;  my  patience  was 
about  gone;  I  was  afraid  I  had  had  all  this  trouble  for 
nothing.  When  he  had  seen  the  last  article  he  opened 
his  mouth  for  the  first  time' 

"Ishdatall?" 

"Yes,"  I  answered,  rather  curtly. 

"Well,  you  haf  nice  sambles." 

I  made  no  answer. 

"You  tanks  'em  sheap,  eh?" 

"  I  hnow  they  are." 

"  Let  me  see  some  gutlery  again." 

I  found  the  cards. 

"  You  may  send  me,"  and  he  went  on  giving  orders 
faster  than  I  could  write  it  down  till  it  amounted  to 
8  !  •">.  My  spirits  went  from  zero  up  to  fever  heat  again. 
It  was  alter  eleven  o'clock  when  I  began  to  pack  my 
samples;  then  I  counted  my  sales  over  again,  and  the 
figures  $255  were  so  pleasant  and  meant  so  much  to 
me  that  they  were  before  me  all  night,  and  I  did  not 
sleep  a  wink. 

The  next  morning  I  was  up  at  4  o'clock  to  take  a 
freight  to  the  next  town.  I  told  the  landlord  I  had 
not  slept  a  wink;  he  hoped  it  was  not  the  fault  of  the 
bed,  and  was  much  relieved  when  I  told  him  it  was  the 
best  bed  in  which  I  had  ever  been. 


102  ON   THE   EOAD   TO   RICHES. 


CHAPTER    XYII. 

A  DRUMMER'S  EXPERIENCE — CONTINUED. 

As  will  readily  be  imagined,  I  undertook  my  work 
on  the  second  day  with  some  feelings  of  confidence. 
Here  I  had  gone  to  a  town  where  our  house  was  total- 
ly unknown  to  any  of  the  dealers,  and  yet  I  had  taken 
orders  from  every  merchant  in  the  place.  The  towns 
on  my  route  for  this  day  had  been  drummed  by  one  of 
the  firm,  and  we  had  more  or  less  trade  from  them. 
It  seemed  reasonable  to  suppose  that  I  would  have 
less  trouble  to  sell  where  the  house  had  already  sold. 

The  train  that  came  along  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing was  a  freight,  with  a  caboose  attached  for  such 
passengers  as  would  ride  at  that  time  of  day.  Of 
course  there  were  innumerable  jars  as  the  train  start- 
ed and  backed  about  the  switches,  but  at  last  the  en- 
gine gave  a  fierce  shriek,  and  we  started  on  our  way. 

As  we  neared  my  destination  a  premonitory  feeling 
came  over  me  that  I  was  not  going  to  sell  much  there, 
and  I  was  sorry  to  see  the  end  of  the  ride.  This  feel- 
ing was  one  that  remained  with  me  during  all  my 
years  of  traveling.  No  matter  what  the  circum- 
stances, I  always  felt  a  cold  chill  creeping  over  me  as 
I  neared  my  next  stopping  place,  and  a  foreboding 
thut  I  was  not  to  have  much  trade  there.     But  when 


a  dbumkeb's   EXPEBIENOE — CONTINUED.  103 

I  struck  out  t<>r  business  this  sensation  was  forgotten, 
and  no  matter  what  the  encouragement,  I  did  my  b 

Tiiis  town  boasted  two  hotels,  and  of  course  two 
hotel-runners.  One  screeched  "American  House," 
and  made  a  dive  for  my  hand-valise,  while  the  other 
veiled  "  Day's  Hotel,"  and  prepared  to  take  poss<  ssion 
of  me.  To  this  latter  young  man  I  turned,  and  [did 
not  regret  the  choice  when  lie  led  mo  into  the  "office," 
where  I  found  a  roaring  fire  sending  out  heat  from  a 
wide,  old-fashioned  fire-place. 

After  breakfast  I  sallied  out,  my  first  point  being 
one  of  the  hardware  stores.  The  town  was  much  larger 
than  the  one  1  was  in  the  day  before,  and  was  well 
drummed  by  New  York,  Buffalo,  Cleveland  and  Toledo. 
The  merchants  were  wide-awake  men,  ami  tolerably 
close  buyers.  Id  my  line  the  dealers  were  much  better 
informed  than  I  was,  and  I  made  it  my  business  to  pick 
up  all  the  information  I  could  from  them.  I  did  not 
pretend  to  be  well  posted,  but  I  was  careful  to  avoid 
showing  my  ignorance. 

At  the  first  place  where  T  introduced  myself  the 
member  of  the  firm  who  met  me  said  curtly,  that  "  they 
could  not  buy  goods  in  Toledo." 

"  I  low  is  that?"  said  I,  as  if  I  did  not  understand 
his  meaning. 

t%  Because  we  can  buy  cheaper  than  you  fellows  can 
sell."  was  the  answer. 

The  point  in  my  mind  then  was  to  see  how  cheaply 
they  bought. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  buyers:  men  who  buy  very 
close,  and   men  who  think  they  buy  close.     You  can 


104  ON   THE    EOAD   TO   RICHES. 

never  be  sure  which  class  a  man  belongs  to  until  you 
have  tried  him.  I  talked  about  the  price  of  this,  that 
and  the  other  thing,  until  I  saw  about  what  profits  I 
could  expect  to  make  on  him,  and  then  I  was  ready  to 
quote.  Of  course,  I  had  to  make  my  prices  as  low  as 
he  had  been  paying,  and  even  a  little  lower,  in  order 
to  start  him.  He  was  one  of  the  class  who  think  they 
buy  cheap  because  they  send  their  orders  to  New  York, 
and  not  because  they  are  getting  low  prices.  I  have 
found  a  good  many  of  this  kind  in  business;  men  who 
would  rather  pay  a  little  more,  and  be  able  to  say  they 
were  buying  in  New  York,  than  save  money  and  have 
to  admit  they  stocked  up  in  Toledo  or  Chicago. 

The  goods  I  was  trying  to  sell  this  man  were  such 
as  paid  a  good  profit,  and  I  was  able  to  sell  them  as 
cheap  as  any  New  York  house  was  quoting  them.  1 
saw  that  my  figures  rather  predisposed  him  to  buv, 
but  that  lie  fancied  it  added  to  the  importance  of  his 
house  to  order  from  New  York.  How  to  get  over  that 
was  the  next  question.  I  remembered  that  the  east- 
ern dealers  were  very  prompt  with  their  duns  and  state- 
ments; I  took  hold  of  that  idea.  I  said  that  I  would 
make  the  time  sixty  days.  He  said  the  time  did  not 
matter,  but  I  saw  that  it  did. 

At  last  I  had  his  order;  not  a  very  large  one,  some- 
thing like  seventy -five  dollars,  and  I  moved  along. 

My  next  customer  was  a  shrewd  little  German  who 
dealt  in  almost  everything.  He  wanted  nothing  in  my 
line,  he  said — not  a  thing.  Was  sony,  as  he  would  like 
to  give  me  an  order,  but  he  didn't  really  want  a  thing. 
That  was  somewhat  discouraging,  but  I  did  not  turn 


A    DKUMMHU'S    EX  PEREENOE-  -CONTINUED.  105 

away.  T  began  to  talk  of  business,  of  Toledo,  of  every- 
thing that  I  thought  would  interest  him,  and  all  the 
time  I  was  putting  in  side  questions  about  his  stock. 
At  last  I  caught  from  him  the  fact  that  he  did  not 
have  a  very  full  stock  of  pocket  cutlery,  the  line  of  all 
others  that  we  were  most  desirous  to  sell.  Then  I 
began  to  drive  remarks  at  him  about  the  handsome  line 
of  samples  that  I  carried;  how  cheap  the  goods  were, 
and  what  big  profits  he  could  make  on  them.  He  did 
not  seem  to  be  overcome  with  their  praises,  but  put  off 
everything  with  the  promise  that  he  would  not  buy  of 
anyone  till  I  came  around  again,  and  then  I  should. 
have  his  order.  But  if  a  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two 
in  the  bush,  an  order  in  one's  book  is  worth  a  score 
that  are  only  promised,  and  I  had  to  take  another  tack. 

I  was  not  a  smoker,  but  before  starting  out  I  had 
bought  half  a  dozen  cigars,  thinking  they  would  come 
into  play  somewhere,  and  I  drew  one  out  now. 

"  Have  a  cigar?"  said  I. 

"  Thank  you." 

When  the  cigar  was  lit  we  gossiped  about  one  thing 
and  another,  and  became  very  friendly.  He  told  me 
abont  his  early  start  in  business,  his  gains  and  losses, 
and  his  plans  for  the  future.  I  tried  to  interest  him 
in  my  efforts,  and  when  we  had  chatted  quite  awhile 
I  returned  to  the  subject  of  pocket  cutlery.  I  talked 
to  such  purpose  that  In'  agreed  to  look  at  my  samples, 
and  we  went  to  the  hotel  at  once.  They  were  arras 
for  effect,  ami  the  effect  was  good.  I  ran  the  prices 
over,  showed  how  much  profit  he  could  make  on  them, 
and  finally  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  him  .-ay: 


106  ON   THE   ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

♦ 

"Well,  I  will  give  you  a  small  order." 

Whether  the  goods  were  cheap  or  not,  I  am  not  now 
able  to  say,  but  I  remember  that  he  ordered  in  full 
packages,  and  when  we  were  through  it  footed  up  one 
hundred  and  thirty  dollars,  and  paid  a  large  profit  to 
the  house. 

I  was  in  excellent  spirits  now,  and  I  went  among  the 
other  dealers  feeling  like  a  lord.  I  took  a  couple  more 
small  orders,  making  my  sales  for  the  day  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  then  I  was  ready  for  the 
evening  express  to  carry  me  farther  on. 

The  next  stopping-place  on  my  list  was  a  large  city, 
a  place  of  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants.  We 
had  sold  but  one  firm  in  the  place,  and  very  few  goods 
to  them.  I  called  there  after  supper,  and  found  the 
buyer  in.  If  every  man  doing  business  was  as  pleasant 
as  the  head  of  that  house,  drumming  would  cease  to 
be  labor,  and  become  simply  recreation. 

In  years  of  travel  on  the  road,  I  never  met  a  man 
who  was  more  genial,  or  who  could  send  you  away 
without  an  order,  and  still  have  you  feel  so  perfectly 
satisfied.  I  was  made  to  feel  at  home,  and  he  was  ready 
to  chat  with  me.  I  saw  at  once  that  he  was  shrewd 
enough  to  take  advantage  of  any  low  figures,  so  I 
quoted  some  goods  at  very  low  prices,  lie  said  nothing 
at  the  time,  but  when  I  was  bidding  him  "  good-night," 
he  remarked  that  he  might  do  something  with  me  in 
the  morning. 

My  sleep  that  night  was  sound  and  unbroken,  and 
in  the  morning  I  was  out  pretty  early  to  look  after 
trade.     I  called  upon  my  friend  of  the  night  before, 


A   DRUMMER'S   EXF-ERIENCE — CONTINUED.  107 

and  was  able  to  take  a  good  order  from  him;  the  per- 
centage of  profit  was  not  large,  but  I  knew  it  would 
be  satisfactory  to  the  house.  The  other  hardware  men 
would  not  listen  to  me,  but  the  moment  I  handed  out 
my  card  said  they  wanted  nothing,  in  a  manner  which 
said  that  if  they  were  to  speak  all  that  was  in  their 
mind  they  would  have  added  "of  you."  I  turned  my 
attention  to  the  drug  trade  and  got  out  my  sample  of 
white  lead  paint.  The  first  dealer  who  took  my  card 
lifted  his  face  from  it  to  me,  as  if  the  boldness  of  a 
Toledo  man  trying  to  sell  him  was  very  amusing. 

"  I  don't  believe  you  can  sell  me,"  said  he,  "  I  buy 
from  the  factories." 

This  is  a  remark  I  afterwards  heard  frequently  from 
a  certain  line  of  retailers;  as  if  that  was  enough  to 
crush  the  poor  jobber  to  the  earth.  But  my  friend  of 
that  day  bought  of  the  factories  to  some  purpose;  ha 
had  just  got  in  a  car-load  of  glass,  and  ten  tons  of 
white  lead.  I  saw  in  a  flash  that  there  was  about  as 
good  a  chance  of  his  selling  us  as  of  our  selling  him; 
but  I  was  there  and  proposed  to  go  off  with  flying 
colors.  I  quoted  glass  and  lead  to  him  a  little  less 
than  they  were  costing  us,  and  then,  feeling  that  1  had 
upheld  the  dignity  of  the  house3  and  with  a  remark 
that  "We  Mould  expect  to  hear  from  him  when  next 
he  wanted  goods,"  bowed  myself  out.  I  never 
troubled  him  again. 

The  next  stopping  place  was  on  a  strap  road,  where 
I  was  four  or  five  hours  going  eighteen  miles.  Luck 
was  still  with  me.  I  sold  no  very  large  hills,  hut  I 
sold  a  good  many  small  ones,  and  they  counted  up  well. 


108  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    KICIIES. 

I  fear  I  would  grow  tedious  if  I  were  to  describe 
the  rest  of  my  trip  in  its  daily  details.  I  had  good 
trade  in  every  town  in  which  I  stopped,  and  my  sales 
for  the  first  week  were  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars, and  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  the  second  week. 
Before  the  first  week  was  over  I  received  letters  from 
the  house  congratulating  me  upon  my  large  sales,  and 
cheering  me  on  the  way.  So  far  as  I  was  concerned  I 
was  as  much  surprised  at  my  good  fortune  as  any  one 
could  have  been.  But  I  found  that  I  was  a  pretty 
good  judge  of  human  nature,  and  I  saw  where  success 
was  to  come  from,  if  it  came  at  all. 

My  first  point  was  to  gain  the  kindly  interest  of  the 
man  whom  I  was  drumming — his  interest  for  me,  per- 
sonally; I  talked  with  him  about  myself,  not  to  boast, 
but  to  show  him  that  an  order  would  help  me,  and  I 
led  him  to  talk  about  himself.  I  explained  that  it  was 
my  first  trip ;  how  many  goods  I  had  to  sell ;  how  lucky 
I  had  been;  and  what  a  benefit  it  would  be  to  me  if  I 
could  keep  on  with  the  same  good  luck.  And  then  I 
impressed  upon  him  that  if  I  continued  upon  that 
route,  I  intended  to  have  my  word  always  as  good  as 
any  other  man's  word ;  that  I  intended  to  represent  goods 
just  as  I  knew  them  to  be  ;  and  that  I  would  treat  my 
customers  in  money  matters  with  the  utmost  leniency. 

I  was  fortunate  enough  to  make  men  believe  me, 
and  I  secured  their  orders. 

I  sold  goods  over  that  route  for  ten  years,  and  I  never 
lost  a  customer  because  of  making  a  misrepresentation 
to  him.  The  men  who  bought  of  me  became,  after  a 
time,  not  customers   merely,   but   personal   friends. 


A   DRUMMER'S    EXPERIENCE — CONTINUED.  109 

When  I  went  in  business  for  myself,  they  seemed  to 
rejoice  with  me,  and  their  orders  were  made  large  just 
to  encourage  me. 

I  traveled  over  and  bnilt  up  other  routes,  in  which 
I  was  equally  successful.  I  never  made  a  trip  that  was 
not  a  profitable  one,  and  I  never  lost  a  customer  un- 
less I  dropped  him  for  being  bad  or  slow  pay.  I  find 
my  traveling  experience  one  of  the  pleasantest  parts 
of  my  business  life,  when  I  look  back  upon  it.  I  was 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  my  customers,  their  clerks, 
and  in  many  cases  with  their  families.  I  was  inter- 
ested in  their  success,  not  only  because  I  wanted  to 
continue  trading  with  them,  but  because  I  had  a  warm 
feeling  for  them  that  trade  had  no  part  in.  Their  con- 
fidence in  me  was  very  pleasant. 

But  the  years  have  almost  buried  the  hardships  of  a 
drummer,  and  leave  me  only  the  pleasant  memories. 
Yet  the  work  was  hard,  fearfully  hard.  I  wasted  very 
few  hours  in  all  my  traveling.  I  never  waited  till 
morning  for  a  train,  if  I  could  make  time  by  going  at 
midnight.  I  never  was  kept  from  going  to  a  town 
because  the  weather  was  bad  or  the  roads  heavy.  My 
trip  was  before  me,  and  I  took  it  as  it  came.  Neither 
did  I  worry  or  run  before  other  drummers  in  my  line. 
I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  could  do  better  by  mind- 
ing my  own  business,  and  I  kept  to  it.  I  saw  my  com- 
petitors rushing  around  a  town  to  get  ahead  of  me, 
and  I  generally  found  they  went  too  fast  to  get  the 
orders.  I  paid  no  attention  to  them,  but  hung  on  for 
trade. 

"When  I  was  through  with  a  town,  if  I  could  not  get 


110  ON   THE   ROAD    TO   RICHES. 

away  at  once,  I  did  not  play  billiards  with  other  drum- 
mers, but  I  made  a  sociable  call  on  some  of  my  cus- 
tomers. It  drew  us  nearer  each  other,  and  everything 
that  makes  a  customer  more  friendly,  makes  him  a 
better  customer.  A  man  will  not  buy  from  a  sales- 
man whom  he  dislikes,  no  matter  how  low  the  prices 
quoted ;  he  will  pay  more  and  buy  of  a  friend.  It  is 
not  strictly  business,  but  it  is  human  nature. 


ON   THE    KG  AD — SELLING.  Ill 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


ON  THE  HO  A  I)  — SELLING. 


Tn  giving  the  foregoing  history  of  my  early  travel- 
ing experience,  I  have  wandered  somewhat  from  the 
path  I  had  marked  out  for  myself,  but  perhaps  in  re- 
lating my  experience  I  may  have  covered  some  les- 
sons I  might  otherwise  have  overlooked.  Let  us  now 
return  to  the  general  principals  governing  the  selling 
of  goods  on  the  road,  and  the  collecting  of  debts  by 
traveling  men. 

Of  course  you  have  selected  your  samples  with 
great  care;  have  seen  that  they  are  fully  up  to  the 
standard  of  the  bulk  of  the  goods,  and  have  arranged 
them  so  that  they  show  off  to  the  very  best  effect. 
Don't  say  of  them  as  a  young  man  once  said  to  me. 
He  had  been  showing  me  some  samples  that  were 
nicely  finished,  and  when  I  asked  if  the  goods  would 
conic  looking  ns  well,  he  answered,  innocently,  "Oh, 
dear  no;  these  are  got  up  especially  for  me  to  take  on 
the  road."  I  did  not  give  him  an  order,  as  I  was 
just  about  to  do,  and  I  presume  he  wondered  why  I 
did  not. 

Get  your  baggage  checked  and  bring  your  wits  to 
play  at  the  outset.  "What  have  you  to  do  with  a 
baggage-man,  other  than  get  your  cheek?  You  have 
a  great  deal  to  do.  You  intend  to  travel  over  this 
road  a  great  many  times  during  the  next  few  years, 


112  ON   THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

do  you  not?  Yon  will  come  in  contact  with  this  man 
every  time,  probably;  you  may  want  a  little  accom- 
modation from  him;  there  are  numberless  little 
things  he  can  do  for  you  during  the  year,  and  a  travel- 
ing man  cannot  have  a  friend  too  many.  Begin  now 
by  trying  to  make  one.  You  will  make  but  little 
impression  upon  him,  but  after  two  or  three  attempts 
you  will  get  acquainted. 

Get  aboard  cars  and  be  ready  for  the  call:  "Tour 
tickets,  please."  Here  is  another  man  whose  good  will 
you  ought  to  secure.  Conductors  are  often  appealed 
to  by  country  merchants  for  the  name  of  agood  grocery 
house,  or  a  good  dry  goods  house  in  the  city.  A  con- 
ductor is  supposed  to  know  everything,  and  the  mer- 
chant thinks  he  will  be  an  impartial  adviser  in  the 
matter  of  business.  Taking  men  as  they  run,  there  is 
no  class  so  accommodating  as  railroad  conductors;  and 
baggage-men,  in  spite  of  the  belief  to  the  contrary,  are 
not  far  behind  them.  I  and  my  traveling  men  have 
received  kindnesses  at  their  hands  that  we  never  could 
fully  repay. 

"When  you  arrive  at  your  destination  you  ought  to 
be  prepared  with  the  name  of  the  hotel  you  intend  to 
stop  at,  providing  the  town  boasts  of  more  than  one. 
The  average  town  contains  three  or  four  places  called 
by  courtesy  "hotels."  Each  hotel  has  a  runner  at  the 
depot,  and  possibly  two.  If,  when  you  step  out  on  the 
platform,  you  waver  when  you  hear:  "  Hotel,  sir?  hotel, 
sir?"  you  are  lost.  Half  a  dozen  hands  will  grasp 
your  valise  at  one  and  the  same  moment,  and  you  will 
trulv  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Philistines. 


ON  THE    ROAD  —  SELLING.  113 

On  the  contrary,  if  you  have  prepared  yourselfi 
beforehand  yon  will  hand  tin'  proper  porter  your  bag- 
gage check,  an<l  quietly  seat  yourself  in  the  hotel  car- 
riage. I  am  not  a  very  constant  customer  of  hotel 
hacks  or  'buses,  particularly  if  they  are  not  free.  I 
have  seen  many  better  ways  of  spending  a  half-dollar 
than  by  riding  two  squares  in  a  hotel  "bus.  and  while 
this  is  a  small  matter,  I  find  the  best  men  are  usually 
the  ones  who  look  after  "  small  matters." 

Arriving  at  the  hotel,  there  is  a  rush  to  register 
names  and  secure  the  best  room.  A  snob  will  always 
be  known  here.  No  men  understand  snobs  so  well  as 
the  men  who  can  keep  a  hotel.  You  will  not  come 
in  contact  with  the  hotel  clerks  of  which  you  read 
in  your  daily  papers;  clerks  who  are  dished  up  by 
school  ma'ams  who  were  never  in  a  hotel,  and  who 
strain  very  hard  to  seem  witty.  "What  the  hotel 
clerk  may  be  in  some  hotels  I  do  not  know;  but 
what  I  have  found  him  in  many  years  of  travel,  travel 
for  business,  and  travel  for  pleasure,  over  the  whole 
country  from  ocean  to  ocean,  proves  him  totally  un- 
like the  second-hand  witticisms  of  the  school-ma'ams. 
In  country  towns  the  hotel  clerks  are  universally 
polite  and  accommodating.  I  never  saw  one  answer 
a  polite  question  in  a  rude  manner,  while  I  have  seen 
them,  in  hundreds  of  instances,  give  a  respectful  ans- 
wer  to  an  impertinent  or  offensively-asked  question. 

It  is  for  your  interest  to  become  acquainted  with 
them.  They  can  give  you  points  about  business  men 
in  their  towns  that  will  be  valuable  to  you. 

We  will  suppose  that   you    have    registered    your 

8 


114  ON   TIIE   EOAD   TO    KICHES. 

name,  been  to  your  room,  and  are  now  on  jour  way 
to  make  your  first  call. 

I  hope  you  have  not  fixed  yourself  up  as  if  you 
were  going,  to  a  ball.  If  you  have,  let  me  advise  you 
to  go  back  to  your  room  and  change  your  dress  at 
once.  You  are  going  to  meet  a  stranger,  and  it  is 
important  for  you  that  you  should  make  a  good 
impression  upon  him.  I  can  assure  you  that  the 
impression  made  by  your  fine  clothes  will  be  anything 
but  favorable.  Country  people  do  not  go  to  their 
places  of  business  in  dress  suits,  and  they  are  apt  to 
despise  the  man  who  does.  My  sole  thought  about 
clothes  was  to  wear  such  as  would  not  be  noticed 
either  by  the  country  dealer,  as  being  "  fancy,"  or  by 
the  city  merchant,  as  being  too  plain. 

I  remember  a  young  man  who  called  upon  me, 
soliciting  orders  for  an  eastern  manufactory,  wearing 
lavender-colored  kid  gloves,  patent  leather  boots,  gold 
eye-glasses,  and  a  delicate  colored  suit  of  clothes. 
The  fellow's  prices  may  have  been  low  enough,  but  I 
could  hardly  keep  my  face  straight  as  I  talked  with 
him.  The  clerks  kept  up  a  running  fire  of  comments 
on  his  good  clothes,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  him  go  out 
the  door. 

I  rpon  entering  a  store  do  not  imagine  that  the  pro- 
prietor will  be  so  much  pleased  at  seeing  you  that  he 
will  gladly  leave  all  other  business  and  attend  to  you. 
Quite  the  contrary;  he  will  probably  say  to  himself: 
"Here  comes  another  bore,"  and  wish  you  were  in 
Halifax.  If  he  is  busy,  give  him  a  "good  day,"  and 
if  it  is  winter,  walk  up  to  the  fire  and  wait  with 
patience. 


ON   THE    ROAD  —  SELLING.  115 

You  can  use  your  eyes  to  good  advantage  now. 
See  what  kinds  of  goods  he  deals  in  and  take  mental 
notes.  Perhaps  his  clerk  is  at  leasure;  if  he  is, 
improve  his  acquaintance.  Drummers  would  have  a 
hard  time  of  it  if  it  were  not  for  the  clerks.  Pump 
him  to  the  fullest  extent  you  think  judicious.  Flatter 
him  to  any  extent:  he  will  stand  any  quantity  you 
choose  to  give  him.  Find  out  where  they  buy,  and 
— but  with  great  care — what  the  prices  they  paid.  If 
you  have  a  cigar  in  your  pocket,  give  him  one;  you 
cannot  be  too  afiable  with  a  clerk.  I  never  use  tobacco, 
hut  I  found  it  a  good  investment  to  carry  cigars  with 
me  to  give  to  baggage-men  and  clerks. 

Of  course  if  the  clerk  was  shrewd,  and  working 
solely  for  his  emyloyer's  interests,  he  would  not  give 
you  this  information,  but  clerks  talk  too  much  invar- 
iably, and  traveling  men  know  they  can  pump  them, 
provided  they  are  not  too  clumsy  about  it. 

By  this  time  the  proprietor  has  become  disengaged, 
and  you  walk  towards  him.  I  cannot  give  you  a  list 
of  sentences  to  repeat  to  him;  you  ought  to  be  able 
to  supply  your  own  wants  in  this  line.  I  always 
thought  it  an  awkward  way  t<>  walk  up  to  a  man  and 
hand  him  a  card,  and  then  wait  lor  him  to  say  some- 
thing. I  prefer  to  say:  uMr.  Brown,  my  name  is 
Green;  I  represent  the  firm  of  Salt  &  Sugar,  Toledo; 
and  1  have  some  samples  in  groceries  that  I  would  be 
glad  to  show  you."  At  the  same  time  I  handed  him 
a  card,  not  as  an  introduction,  but  merely  to  empha- 
size what  I  had  said. 

lie  will  probably  say  that  there  is  nothing  in  that 


116  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    KICIIES. 

line  that  he  needs  to-day.  Heaven  only  knows  what 
a  man  may  say,  they  say  so  much,  except  just  what 
you  hope  they  will  !  If  you  have  any  inducements  to 
offer  by  way  of  price  or  quality,  bring  them  on.  Be 
in  earnest;  don't  imagine  you  can  get  an  order  with- 
out working  for  it;  and  may  success  attend  you  ! 

If  you  are  fortunate  enough  to  get  an  order  from 
him,  be  careful  about  getting  it  down  correctly.  Get 
his  firm  name;  the  name  of  his  postoifice—  oftentimes 
the  name  of  the  station  is  different  from  the  name  of 
the  postoifice; — complete  shipping  directions;  and  be 
sure  that  he  understands  terms  and  prices  exactly  as 
you  do.  I  do  not  mean  that  you  must  go  about  this 
as  if  you  were  taking  the  census;  get  all  the  informa- 
tion quietly  and  naturally;  and  get  it  in  a  convenient 
moment.  If  you  have  been  talking  prices,  and  he 
opens  the  ball  by  saying  :  "  Well,  you  may  send  me  a 
barrel  of  this  sugar  and  a  barrel  of  that,"  do  not  stop? 
and,  striking  an  attitude,  say  :  "  Let  me  see,  what  is 
the  style  of  your  firm  ? "  but  take  down  the  order  at 
once,  leaving  room  at  the  top  for  address  and  directions. 
You  can  get  his  address,  etc.,  when  he  has  stopped 
buying;  so  make  it  a  rule  to  write  down  the  order  at 
once,  and  let  everything  else  go  for  the  time. 

"When  you  have  his  order,  you  want  to  make  sure 
that  he  is  responsible,  if  you  have  not  already  done  so, 
but  I  will  postpone  that  part  of  the  subject,  together 
with  some  remarks  about  collecting,  for  another  chap- 
ter. 


ON   THE   BO  AD COLLECTING.  117 


CHAPTEE   XIX. 

ON   THE    ROAD — COLLECTING. 

One  of  the  axioms  among  wholesale  men  is:  "A 
good  salesman  is  a  poor  collector;  and  I  think  it  is 
fully  borne  out  by  experience.  But  because  this  is  so 
it  does  not  follow  that  it  could  not  be  otherwise. 
Indeed,  I  am  free  to  say  that  a  good  collector  ought 
to  be  the  better  salesman.  But  I  will  give  a  sample 
of  the  conversation  that  often  passes  between  drummer 
and  country  merchant. 

"  "Well,  Mr.  Snyder,  I  want  to  send  you  what  notions 
you  need  in  my  line;  how  is  your  stock? " 

"  I'm  a  little  low  in  some  things,  but  I  guess  I  won't 
order  to-day." 

"  What  is  the  matter?  Nothing  wrong  with  the 
house,  is  there?" 

"  No,  the  house  is  all  right,  but  I  must  stop  buying 
until  I  can  pay  you  up  once. 

"  Oh,  the  pay  is  all  right.  Pitch  in;  buy  what  you 
want;  we'll  back  you  up." 

"  I  haven't  the  face  to  order  with  the  account  as  it 
stands  now.  I  guess  I  won't  buy  anything  now,  but 
will  send  your  folks  some  money  pretty  soon,  and  then 
make  a  small  order  to  last  me  till  you  come  around 
again." 


118  ON   THE   ROAD    TO    EICHES. 

"We  will  leave  the  conversation  at  this  point,  but  we 
can  be  tolerably  sure  that  the  drummer  got  the  order, 
even  if  he  didn't  get  any  money. 

During  the  last  five  years,  when  trade  has  not  been 
pushing,  such  conversation  as  this  may  be  heard  in  four 
stores  out  of  live.  The  retailer  really  does  not  want 
to  order  because  he  has  allowed  his  account  to  run  be- 
hind, and  the  drummer  is  determined  to  get  as  big  an 
order  from  him  as  he  can.     Let  us  look  at  this. 

Common-sense  must  suggest  to  us  that  the  retailer 
would  be  wise  in  refusing  to  order.  His  best  interests 
demand  that  he  "pay  as  he  goes."  The  drummer, 
judged  as  a  drummer,  is  also  wise  in  getting  him  to 
take  an  order.  We  take  it  for  granted  that  the  man  is 
sound.  How  is  it  with  the  drummer's  employers? 
Their  interests  would  have  been  best  served  by  not 
teasing  the  man  into  giving  an  order  until  he  had 
reduced  his  account. 

There  is  no  surer  way  to  lose  a  customer  than  by  let- 
ting him  continually  lap  bills.  Trouble  must  come 
through  this;  better  when  he  owes  fifty  dollars,  than 
when  it  amounts  to  five  hundred.  There  is  nothing 
more  annoying  to  a  drummer  than  the  customer  who 
is  willing  to  buy,  but  will  not  because  his  account  is  past 
due,  and  he  can't  pay  up. 

Judging  from  my  own  experience  and  from  the 
experience  of  those  who  worked  for  me,  I  think  I 
may  safely  say  that  of  two  men  who  are  exactly 
alike  in  other  respects,  the  one  who  keeps  his  ac- 
counts collected  closely  will  sell  the  most  goods  in 
two,  three  or  five  years.     In  one  year  he  might  fall 


0NT    THE    HOAD  COLLECTING.  110 

behind.  The  drummers  from  the  large  houses  of  the 
East  have  nothing  to  do  with  collections.  The  book- 
keeper makes  them  through  statements  and  by  draw- 
ing through  the  banks.  Hut  the  drummers  from  the 
wholesale  houses  in  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  Toledo, 
Chicago,  and  St.  Louis,  are  obliged  to  collect  as  well 
as  to  sell. 

The  accounts  due  on  the  route  are  entered  in  pocket 
ledgers,  or  made  out  on  "statement''  sheets.  I  think 
there  was  never  yet  a  man  sent  out  on  the  'road  but 
was  cautioned  that  he  must  put  in  his  ''best  licks"  in 
collecting.  As  you  are  getting  ready  to  follow  your 
samples  to  the.depot,  the  Senior  calls  you  back  into 
the  office  with  the  announcement  that  "your  accounts 
are  ready/'  And  he  opens  the  book  at  the  first  page 
and  comments  on  each  account  as  he  comes  to  it.  I 
imagine  it  would  sound  something  like  this,  could 
we  hear  him : 

"Here's  Smith  dreadfully  behind;  hasn't  paid  up 
his  bill  bought  six  months  ago.  Punch  him  up  hard. 
Tell  him  we're  fearfully  hard  up,  and  must  have  some 
money.  Brown's  account  is  in  pretty  good  shape; 
sell  him  all  you  can.  Joy  is  the  most  provoking 
customer  on  our  books.  We  dun  him,  and  dun  him, 
but  it  doesn't  do  the  first  bit  of  good.  There  is  no 
satisfaction  in  doing  business  with  him.  Don't  sell 
him  unless  lie  pays  up,  and  you  can  get  big  profits  out 
of  him.  Martin  is  good,  but  slow.  Sell  him  all 
he  wants,  but  try  and  get  some  money  out  of  him. 
Don't  leave  the  town  until  Jackson  pays  up.  I  have. 
no  confidence  in  him,  and  don't  want  his  name  on  our 


120  ON   THE    EOAD    TO    KICHES. 

Looks.  Get  this  balance  out  of  him,  but  don't  sell 
him  a  dollar  more,"  etc.,  etc. 

You  begin  to  feel  blue.  Tou  are  well  aware  that 
some  of  the  men  that  he  finds  the  most  fault  with  are 
the  very  ones  upon  whom  you  always  depend  for  an 
order;  and  if  you  are  to  be  so  independent  with  them 
upon  money  matters,  "good-bye "  to  their  trade.  But 
hope  springs  eternal  in  the  drummer's  breast;  so  you 
buy  your  ticket  and  trust  to  luck. 

The  probabilities  are  that  Smith  has  no  money  for 
you,  and  you  make  his  account  still  worse  by  selling 
him  another  bill.  Brown  pays  up  but  does  not  want 
anything.  Joy  gives  you  a  part  of  his,  and  you  sell 
him  a  bill  at  very  bottom  prices.  Martin  pays  you  a 
little,  and  buys  a  small  bill — and  so  on. 

As  you  send  in  the  orders  you  write  all  about 
Smith's  affairs,  and  you  are  certain  that  the  Senior  will 
sniff  awhile  before  be  sends  the  goods,  and  in  a  day  or 
two  you  will  receive  a  letter  informing  you  that  you 
must  push  collections.  Of  course,  you  get  angry  at 
this;  tell  all  the  other  drummers  what  an  ass  the 
"  old  man  "  is,  and  wish  he  would  come  out  and  try  it 
himself  awhile. 

The  usual  chain  of  circumstances  that  follow  a 
drummer's  collections  are  like  this:  You  have  secur- 
ed the  trade  of  a  country  merchant  and  can  rely  upon 
his  buying  all  his  goods  of  you.  The  first  bill  you 
sell  him  is  paid  promptly  when  due.  The  next  bill 
and  the  next  are  also  as  promptly  paid.  When  you  are 
around  after  the  next  bill  he  is  a  little  bit  short,  and 
promises  to  remit  it  in  a  few  days.     You  laughingly 


ON   THE    ROAD  —  COLLECTING.  121 

tell  him  to  take  his  own  time,  and  sell  him  another 
good  bill.  Lie  has  your  money  ready  to  send  to  the 
house  in  a  few  days,  but  he  sees  a  chance  to  buy  some- 
thing that  he  thinks  will  pay  well.  He  remembers 
how  indifferent  you  were  about  it,  takes  you  at  your 
word,  and  uses  the  money  instead  of  paying  your  bill. 
\Vhen  you  next  come  around  he  pays  the  first  bill 
only.  Gradually  he  drops  behind  little  by  little  until 
he  is  quite  deep  in  your  debt.  He  has  probably  been 
trusting  out  goods  as  freely  as  you  trusted  him.  It  is 
utterly  impossible  for  him  to  raise  money  enough  to 
pay  your  balance  at  once;  what  shall  he  do  ?  There 
are  two  ways  open  to  him:  to  buy  lightly  and  push 
his  collections  until  he  has  you  paid  up,  or  to  stop 
trading  with  you  entirely,  buy  of  some  other  house, 
and  pay  you  up  as  fast  as  he  can.  The  latter  way  is 
the  one  oftenest  chosen.  And  you  see,  when  it  is  too 
late,  that  your  careless  manner  of  collecting  has 
deprived  you  of  a  customer. 

What  you  ought  to  have  done  when  he  first  began 
to  lap  bills  was  to  give  him  cheerfully  the  few  days  he 
asked  for,  but  to  have  it  understood  that  the  money 
would  be  sent  in  at  such  a  time,  and  that  you  would 
explain  the  matter  to  the  house.  Under  these  circum- 
stances he  would  have  worked  hard  to  send  in  the 
money  by  the  time  agreed,  and  felt  under  just  as  much 
obligation  to  you.  It  is  an  exceedingly  delicate  mat- 
ter to  dun  customers  who  are  some  time  past  due. 
They  may  remit  and  feel  all  right;  they  may  remit 
and  say  they  did  not  know  their  credit  was  so  poor; 
or  they  may  wait  till  the  poor  drummer  comes  around 


122  ON   THE   EOAD   TO   KICHES. 

and  then  pour  the  vials  of  their  wrath  on  him.  Didn't 
he  say  they  might  have  all  the  time  they  wanted; 
didn't  he  promise  this,  that  and  the  other  thing? 
Here  is  his  money,  and  they  do  not  want  to  see  him 
any  more. 

I  have  tried  to  impress  upon  every  young  traveling 
man  that  it  is  for  Ms  interest  to  keep  the  accounts  on 
his  route  collected  up  closely.  And  where  it  is  impos- 
sible to  collect  in  one  trip  all  the  bills  that  were  sold 
on  the  previous  trip,  I  strongly  urge  that  every  unpaid 
balance  be  put  in  a  note.  The  advantages  of  having 
an  account  in  this  shape  are  apparent  to  every  business 
man.  For  one  thing,  it  settles  the  vexed  cjuestion  of 
interest.  How  many  men  there  are  who  will  not  pay 
interest  on  an  open  account.  And  yet  they  pay  inter- 
est on  a  note  without  a  lisp.  Again,  and  a  very  strong 
argument  in  favor  of  the  notes  is,  there  will  be  no 
confusion  of  accounts  in  either  one's  books.  Every 
drummer  knows  what  a  series  of  misunderstandings 
lie  in  a  string  of  open  accounts.  And  a  country  mer- 
chant will  be  more  anxious  to  take  up  his  notes  than 
he  would  be  to  simply  pay  off  his  account.  Lastly, 
and  by  no  means  the  weakest  of  the  arguments,  if  the 
man  is  to  be  sued,  or  the  money  to  be  collected  by  any 
process  of  law,  the  note  will  save  time  and  lawyer's 
fees. 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  the  custom  to  make 
collections  through  the  banks  by  drafts.  This  could 
become  more  general  if  the  drummers  would  familiar- 
ize their  customers  with  the  idea.  At  first,  one  drew 
on  a  man  at  the  risk  of  forever  offending  him,  but  it  is 


DN   THE    ROAD  —  COLLECTING.  123 

not  so  bad  now.  If  Smith  says,  "  I  can't  pay  you 
to-day,  but  will  have  a  rai.se  in  a  week  from  this,"  you 
can  say:  "All  right;  suppose  the  house  draws  on  you 
in  ten  days,  will  that  be  satisfactory?"  And  if  it  is, 
the  drummer  notifies  the  house  and  the  collection  is 
made. 

This  question  of  collecting  is  a  many-sided  one,  and 
always  a  delicate  one,  even  when  you  are  trading  with 
those  who  are  anxious  to  pay,  and  who  are  finaneially 
sound;  but  when  you  begin  to  get  among  the  men  who 
are  unsound,  and  who  do  not  want  to  pay,  then  one 
needs  to  be  as  cool  as  an  icicle  and  as  decisive  as  fate. 
But  of  this  hereafter. 


124  ON   THE   ROAD   TO   KICHES. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ON   THE   KOAD COLLECTING. 

In  the  last  chapter,  referring  to  the  subject  of  col- 
lecting, I  advised  the  traveling  salesman  to  take  notes 
for  unpaid  balances.  I  gave  reasons  showing  that 
this  would  be  the  wisest  plan,  both  for  settling  up  with 
those  who  are  financially  sound  and  willing  to  pay,  and 
for  enforcing  payment  from  those  who  were  too  slow. 
Bad  debts  are  inevitable.  Every  man  commencing 
business  estimates  that  a  percentage  of  accounts  will 
prove  worthless,  and  plans  accordingly.  No  matter 
how  careful  a  salesman  may  be,  he  will  sell  to  some 
men  who  are  not  responsible,  or  who  never  pay  until 
they  are  compelled  to  do  so.  It  is  wonderful  to  see 
how  many  men  there  are  doing  business  who  have  no 
credit,  deserve  none,  and  yet  are  able  to  keep  their 
stock  replenished  by  buying  goods  on  credit.  Compe- 
tition among  jobbers  "  doing  business  for  glory,"  and 
traveling  men's  habits  of  "  taking  the  chances  on  this 
bill,"  help  to  keep  a  great  many  unsound  retailers  in 
trade. 

It  is  not  a  difficult  matter  for  a  salesman  to  learn 
the  standing  and  responsibility  of  his  customers,  pro- 
vidino-  he  is  a  man  who  understands  his  business.  It 
is  his  duty  to  sell  to  none  but  good  men,  and  his  inter- 


ON   THE   KOAD  —  COLLECTING.  125 

est  to  make  as  few  bad  sales  as  possible.  To  decide  as 
to  a  man's  responsibility  requires  judgment  more  than 
rules.  A  man  without  a  dollar  might  be  a  perfectly 
safe  man  to  trust,  if  he  were  honest,  economical,  and 
understood  his  trade  perfectly;  while  another  worth 
thousands  of  dollars,  but  tricky,  speculative,  or  neg- 
lectful of  business,  might  be  a  very  unsafe  man  to 
have  on  one's  books. 

"When  money  is  collected  it  should  be  sent  home  at 
once.  It  is  a  dangerous  habit  to  carry  much  money 
around  on  the  person,  and  it  is  well  to  have  it  known 
one  never  carries  more  cash  about  him  than  will  take 
him  to  the  next  town.  In  taking  bank-bills  each  bill 
should  be  examined  with  care,  and  if  there  is  the  slight- 
est doubt  of  the  genuineness  of  any,  the  customer's 
attention  called  to  it.  If  he  does  not  replace  it  with 
another,  make  a  minute  of  the  number  and  amount  of 
the  bill,  and  of  the  customer's  name,  and  then  if  it 
proves  bad  there  can  be  no  dispute  as  to  where  it 
came  from.  In  taking  drafts,  either  upon  banks  or 
individuals,  have  your  customer  endorse  them.  If 
they  should  be  dishonored  there  will  be  no  question  as 
to  where  you  received  them,  nor  as  to  the  payer's 
responsibility  to  make  them  good.  Have  them  en- 
dorsed payable  to  your  house,  then  if  they  are  lost 
they  will  not  be  negotiable.  The  simplest  and  ordi- 
nary form  of  endorsement  is  this,  written  across  the 
back  of  note  or  draft: 

Pay  to  Long  &  Short, 
or  order. 
B row n  &  Smith. 


126  ON   TIIE   ROAD    TO    EICHES. 

When  a  bill  is  long  past  due,  and  one  can  get  no 
satisfactory  explanation  from  the  customer,  while  dun- 
ning is  of  no  avail,  he  begins  to  think  it  is  time  to 
try  the  courts.  There  are  two  courses  open:  to  give 
the  account  to  a  justice  of  the  peace,  or  to  send  to  a 
lawyer  to  have  it  sued.  "Whichever  way  is  determined 
upon,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  be  sorry  and  wish 
he  had  tried  the  other.  Fully  two-thirds  of  the 
justices  are  men  who  have  no  knowledge  of  law,  and 
many  of  them  do  not  possess  common  honesty.  Some 
of  them  are  excellent  collectors,  but  they  neglect  to 
hand  over  what  they  collect.  They  take  more  interest 
in  their  neighbor  who  is  sued,  than  in  the  creditor 
who  lives  a  hundred  miles  away.  Here  and  there  one 
is  found  who  understands  the  laws  he  is  required  to 
administer,  and  manages  his  affairs  without  fear  or 
favor. 

But  if  justices  are  so  very  uncertain,  what  shall  we 
say  of  the  average  country  lawyer?  If  justices  are 
bad,  lawyers  are  many  times  worse.  Indeed  one 
should  investigate  the  justice  and  lawyer  with  the 
same  thoroughness  that  he  gives  to  his  customers' 
standing.  Every  traveling  man  finds  that  he  has  more 
trouble  over  the  few  accounts  that  are  being  forced 
through,  than  with  all  the  other  accounts  combined. 

An  account  is  left  with  an  attorney,  a  receipt  taken, 
and  it  is  expected  that  the  squeezing  process  will 
promptly  begin.  On  the  next  trip  the  drummer  calls 
to  see  what  progress  is  being  made,  and  is  informed 
that  everything  is  all  safe,  judgment  secured  for  the 
amount,  and  writ  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff.     Again 


ON   THE   ROAD  —  COLLECTING.  127 

he  comes  around  and  is  informed  that  the  lawyer  had 
given  the  man  a  few  days'  grace  under  a  solemn 
promise  that  the  account  would  be  surely  paid  at  the 
expiration  of  that  time,  but  he  failed  to  come  to  time 
and  now  he  is  going  to  "catch  it."  On  the  next  trip 
it  is  the  sheriff  who  is  in  fault,  and  finally,  when  the 
property  is  attached  and  offered  lor  sale,  no  one  appears 
to  bid  and  collection  is  delayed.  So  it  goes;  every- 
thing combining  to  keep  the  merchant  out  of  his 
money,  until  he  thinks  he  would  have  been  much  wiser 
to  have  burned  the  account  than  to  have  attempted 
collecting  it  by  law.  In  fact,  so  unsatisfactory  is 
suing,  that  salesmen  are  more  and  more  inclined  to 
practice  the  art  of  coaxing,  and  are  ready  to  accept 
almost  any  cash  offer  rather  than  go  to  law. 

One  of  the  worst  men  on  our  boohs  was  brought  to 
terms  by  coaxing,  after  a  lawyer  had  declared  there 
Mas  no  possible  way  of  getting  the  man  to  pay.  Our 
agent  coaxed  merchandise  from  him,  and  made  him 
believe  that  he  was  really  doing  a  sharp  thing,  to  get 
rid  of  some  of  his  stock  and  our  account  at  the  same 
time.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  another  such  mixture 
of  hardware,  dry  goods,  notions,  etc.,  as  we  received, 
and  our  first  thought  was  that  we  would  have  done 
better  to  have  presented  him  with  the  account,  but  we 
closed  the  goods  out  at  satisfactory  prices,  and  not 
only  saved  <>ur  account,  but  were  a  little  ahead  on  the 
trade. 

Two-thirds  of  the  bills  lost  on  the  road  are  lost  by 
delay  in  pushing  things.  Were  the  agent  to  promptly 
press  matters,    he  would    save  the  account  in  many 


12S  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

cases  where  lie  now  loses  it.  Merchants  are  partly  to 
blame  for  this;  they  are  not  so  energetic  in  pushing 
collections  as  they  ought  to  be.  The  largest  bill  I 
ever  lost  on  the  road  was  lost  through  the  policy  of 
the  managing  man  of  the  firm.  I  sold  the  bill  in  the 
store,  but  afterwards  added  to  it  when  I  was  in  the 
party's  town.  He  gave  me  a  little  money,  and  a  good- 
sized  order.  Before  I  went  to  his  place  again  I  heard 
some  reports  damaging  to  him,  and  when  I  investi- 
gated them  I  found  that  if  they  were  not  true  they 
were  not  far  from  the  truth.  I  declined  to  sell  him 
anything  more,  and  did  my  best  to  get  some  money 
out  of  him.  I  succeeded  in  getting  a  small  amount 
only.  I  made  a  statement  of  his  affairs  to  the  house, 
and  ended  by  requesting  their  permission  to  go  to  the 
town  again,  and  compel  him  to  secure  the  claim,  as  I 
knew  I  could  do  at  that  time. 

The  firm  wrote  back  that  they  thought  more  was  to 
be  gained  by  coaxing;  to  go  slow;  nurse  him  along, 
and  we  might  get  our  money  out  of  him;  whereas,  if 
we  were  to  make  trouble,  it  might  bring  all  his  other 
creditors  about  his  ears,  and  we  would  lose  all.  I  was 
only  a  clerk,  and  had  nothing  more  to  say;  if  their  pol- 
icy suited  them  it  must  suit  me.  But  within  sixty 
days  the  party  was  compelled  to  make  an  assignment, 
and  we  had  not  coaxed  a  dollar  from  him.  Several 
creditors  had  pushed  him  after  I  saw  him,  and  had 
their  accounts  secured  by  outside  endorsers.  I  could 
have  had  our  claim  in  the  same  shape,  had  the  firm 
allowed  me  to  do  as  I  wished. 

It  is  rarely  that  a  salesman  is  compelled  to  swear  out 


ON   Till'    ROAD 


COLLECTING.  120 


a  writ  of  attachment,  and  he  Bhonld  do  it  then  only 
under  the  advice  of  a  good  lawyer. 

If  traveling  men  did  less  business  for  glory,  and  were 
more  anxious  for  profit,  there  would  not  be  bo  much 
need  of  lawyers  among  business  men.  The  Mercantile 
Agencies  furnish  books  of  reference  for  one  State  or  a 
dozen  States,  and  these,  with  good  judgment  and 
observation,  would  prevent  a  man  from  running  into 
danger:  but  the  trouble  is  that  they  run  into  danger 
with  their  eyes  open.  "He  is  good  fortius  hill."  is 
the  excuse  they  offer  their  own  conscience,  and  so  they 
send  the  order  home.  When  the  bill  is  due,  it  is 
somewhat  harder  to  collect  than  it  was  to  sell  it. 

Traveling  men,  when  at  home,  arc  usually  gay  gen- 
tlemen of  leisure,  and  here  is  where  they  make  a  grave 
mistake.  If  they  have  no  special  duties  in  the  store, 
they  should  use  every  minute  of  the  time  in  posting 
themselves  as  to  changes  in  style  and  prices  since  they 
wmt  on  the  last  trip.  It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  be 
too  thoroughly  posted  about  his  business,  and  the  stock 
of  goods  he  is  selling  from. 

Be  will  also  find  it  for  his  advantage  to  look  through 
the  orders  he  sent  in,  and  see  how  they  were  filled.  If 
any  were  not  complete,  let  him  learn  why,  so  that  he 
may  be  able  to  explain  should  his  customer  refer  to  it. 

Let  him  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  but  one  step 
more  to  be  taken  in  his  course — a  step  into  the  firm. 
By  making  himself  master  of  the  business  and  of  a 
good  paying  trade,  he  makes  himself  master  of  the  sit- 
uation. If  these  men  do  not  sec  that  their  interests 
will  be  advanced  by  giving  him  a  share  of  the  profits, 

9 


130  OX    THE    EOAD   TO   KICIIE>. 

other  men  will  see  it,  and  if  he  is  fitted  for  it,  his  day 
of  advancement  will  come.  The  traveling  man  holds 
the  key  to  the  situation;  he  may  make  himself  worth 
just  his  salary,  or  he  may  wind  himself  about  the  busi- 
ness in  such  a  manner  that  salary  will  not  be  a  com- 
pensation, and  others  will  see  this  much  quicker  than 
he  will.  There  are  plenty  of  opportunities — it  is  for 
him  to  grasp  them. 


WILL   YOU    BE   A   PAETXEE?  131 


CHAPTER    XXL 

WILL  YOU  BE  A  PAETNEE? 

That  man  is  surely  to  be  congratulated  who  lias 
worked  his  way  up  in  mercantile  life  from  the  position 
of  porter,  to  where  an  interest  is  offered  him  in  a  well 
established  business.  The  credit  of  it  all  is  his,  and 
his  alone.  Men  often  gain  places  of  honor  in  life 
through  political  intrigue  or  influential  friends,  but 
business  men  do  not  give  something  for  nothing,  and 
when  they  make  a  clerk  propositions  that  lead  to  part- 
nership, it  is  because  they  think  he  has  deserved  it 
and  their  own  interests  are  to  be  advanced  thereby. 
Becoming  partner  in  an  old  house,  one  which  has  an 
established  and  paying  trade,  has  much  in  its  favor 
against  other  inducements,  such  as  going  into  busi- 
ness for  one's  self,  or  taking  an  interest  with  a  new 
firm.  But  the  interest  usually  offered  a  clerk  in  an 
old  house  is  apt  to  be  a  very  small  one,  and  little,  if 
any,  better  than  his  old  salary.  Oftentimes  a  partner- 
ship is  a  decided  damage  to  him.  As  junior  partner 
he  is  compelled  to  do  all  the  unpleasant  work,  to 
carry  out  the  orders  of  others,  and  to  be  everything 
but  independent.  A  clerk  with  proper  self-respect 
may  object  to  rules  and  regulations  of  a  house,  often 
modifies  its  orders,  and  will  act  on  his  own  responsi- 


ON   THE   EOAD   TO    RICHES. 


bility,  but  the  new  partner  can  do  nothing  of  the  kind. 
Some  men  will  work  for  less  money  just  to  have  the 
name  of  being  partner  in  the  firm.  Others  are  shrewd 
enough  to  take  a  large  salary  which  is  sure,  rather 
than  a  percentage  of  profits  that  may  be  large  and  may 
be  nothing,  while  in  addition  they  may  have  to 
shoulder  the  responsibilities  that  will  come  in  case  of 
failure.  "What  a  young  man  should  do  is  something 
that  cannot  be  decided  by  rules.  One  who  has  suc- 
cessfully made  his  way  thus  far  in  the  world  ought  to 
be  able  to  decide  for  himself  whether  the  offered  part- 
nership will  be  an  advantage  to  him  or  not-.  But  it  is 
best  to  be  very  cautious. 

The  London  Punch  boiled  down  a  chapter  entitled, 
"Advice  to  Those  About  to  Marry,"  into  this  one 
word:  "Don't."  The  advice  is  equally  good  for 
those  who  are  about  to  enter  into  a  business  partner- 
ship. He  must  be  a  very  careless  observer  who  has 
not  seen  that  there  is  more  or  less  jarring  and  friction 
between  the  members  of  every  firm.  Brown  thinks 
Smith  buys  too  many  goods;  Smith  thinks  JKobinson 
does  not  financier  wisely;  Eobinson  finds  fault  with 
both  Brown  and  Smith;  and  so  they  go,  each  with  his 
own  grievance. 

One  of  the  most  surprising  things  to  me,  when  I  had 
become  well  acquainted  on  the  street,  was  to  see  the 
almost  universal  discords  and  jealousies  that  existed 
among  business  partners.  Nine  firms  out  of  ten  are 
not  satisfied  with  their  make-up.  As  it  looks  to  an 
uninterested  observer,  they  seem  to  be  quarreling 
about  trifles,  and  making  mountains  out  of  miniature 


WILL   YOU    BE   A   PAKTNKU?  I:;:'. 

mole-liills,  but  the  unpleasantness  may  be  a  very  real 
and  vexatious  tiling  to  the  complaining  party.  I 
believe  it  was  a  Greek  of  whom  it  is  told  that  when 
her  friends  began  to  argue  his  unjustness  in  putting 
away  his  wife,  a  woman  whom,  according  to  them,  all 
the  virtues  adorned,  he  for  an  answer  held  out  his  foot 
and  asked  them  to  tell  him  whereabouts  his  shoe  hurt 
him.  They  could  not  oblige  him  with  the  informa- 
tion; whereupon  he  said — but  the  point  is  too  plain  to 
be  enlarged  upon.  It  was  a  capital  way  of  teaching 
them  that  every  man  knew  his  own  troubles  best. 

Similarly  in  business,  the  whole  city  may  sing  the 
] »raises  of  one's  partner,  and  still  he  may  be  a  very 
unpleasant  man  to  be  in  business  with.  I  have 
noticed,  however,  in  connection  with  this  matter  of 
fault-finding  among  partners,  that  he  who  does  the 
most  of  it  is  invariably  the  one  who  works  the  least. 
When  I  see  a  man  going  up  and  down  the  street,  pour- 
ing his  story  into  every  ear  that  will  receive  it,  I  decide 
in  my  own  mind  that  he  is  the  weak  link  in  the  chain, 
and  that  if  he  attended  to  his  share  of  the  business 
his  partners  would  not,  necessarily,  be  so  much  remiss 
in  theirs.  The  man  who  publishes  the  name  of  his 
own  household,  is  a  very  small  man  indeed.  "It  is  a 
very  dirty  bird  that  fouls  its  own  nest."  A  man's 
partners  in  business  stand  to  him  in  so  close  a  relation 
that  their  honor  should  be  his  honor,  and  their  good 
name  should  lie  as  dear  to  him  as  his  own. 

From  innumerable  instances  I  select  one  that  bi 
to  be  an  ordinary  example  of  this  fault-finding  among 
partners.     Two  men  doing  business  near  me  seemed  to 


131  ON  THE   KOAD    TO    KICHES. 

be  well-matched  for  partnership  and  success.  One  was 
talkative,  sociable,  and  a  fair  salesman;  the  other  was 
reserved,  industrious,  and  a  good  financier  and  buyer. 
They  did  a  fair  business  and  made  money.  After  a 
time  it  came  to  the  ears  of  the  quiet  man  that  his 
partner  was  in  the  habit  of  talking  of  him  as  if  he  was 
an  incumbrance  on  him;  as  if  all  the  success  was  due 
to  the  talkative  partner,  and  the  reason  that  the  success 
was  not  greater  was  because  of  the  apparent  faults  of 
the  man  who  really  did  all  the  work  of  the  house.  He 
was  a  man  who  was  not  able,  like  the  other,  to  appear 
one  thing  when  he  felt  differently,  and  there  was  an 
unpleasant  feeling  between  the  two  from  that  time. 
The  busy  man  neglected  his  work,  the  talkative  man 
began  to  have  a  real  grievance  to  relate,  and  between 
them  both  the  business  went  to  the  wall;  and  the 
public,  who  had  judged  them  both  rightly,  said  it  served 
them  right. 

During  my  traveling  experience  I  was  made  the 
confidant  of  my  customers,  and  the  first  secret  imparted 
to  me  was  invariably  a  complaint  against  the  partners, 
if  they  had  them. 

If  you  have  a  clerk  in  your  employ,  you  know  that 
you  must  treat  him  as  he  ought  to  be  treated  or}Tou  will 
lose  him.  As  a  clerk,  too,  you  expect  him  to  be  re- 
spectful to  you.  As  a  partner  you  may  treat  him  as 
your  mood  is,  and  he  dares  not  object,  or  he  in  turn 
may  be  sullen  and  unpleasant  to  you  and  you  must 
bear  it. 

If,  after  all  this,  yon  decide  to  join  the  firm,  see  that 
yon  are  not  "going  it  blind."     "Never  buy  a  pig  in 


WILL   YOU    BE   A    PAKTXKK?  135 

the  poke."  In  inventorying  stock  you  will  notice  if 
goods  are  entered  at  their  market  value,  and  your 
knowledge  of  your  customers  will  enable  you  to  judge 
if  the  book  accounts  are  estimated  at  their  correct 
worth.  If  the  profits  for  a  few  years  back  have  aver- 
aged satisfactorily,  and  if  those  years  are  such  as  you 
can  reasonably  expect  to  see  repeated — having  ups  and 
downs  in  them — you  can  make  a  fair  estimate  of  what 
your  interest  will  bring  you.  This  figure  should  beat 
least  fifty  per  cent,  higher  than  the  salary  you  have 
been  receiving. 

If  this  examination  is  favorable  and  you  conclude  to 
accept  the  proposition,  the  next  step  should  be  to  draw 
up  articles  of  partnership,  or  rather,  to  have  them 
drawn  up  by  a  thoroughly  competent  lawyer.  Under 
no  circumstances  would  I  go  into  partnership  with  a 
man,  or  men,  without  being  protected  by  this  agree- 
ment. As  they  ought  to  be  drawn  up  by  a  lawyer,  I 
will  not  give  any  form  for  these  articles.  They  usually 
signify  that  John  Smith,  Thomas  Brown  and  Richard 
Robinson,  or  whatever  the  men's  names  may  be,  "  have 
this  day  entered  into  partnership,  for  the  purpose  of 
buying  and  selling  dry  goods,  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Smith,  Brown  and  Robinson.  That  the 
capital  of  the  firm  is  twelve  thousand  dollars,  {>f  which 
John  Smith  contributes  one-half,  Brown  one-quarter, 
and  Robinson  one-quarter,  ami  that  the  profits  arising 
from  the  business  shall  be  divided,  or  the  losses  borne 
in  this  proportion,"  etc. 

If  there  are  to  be  any  special  arrangements,  here  is 
the  place  to  record  and  bind  them.     Let  the  minutest 


13G  ON    THE   KOAD   TO    BICIIES. 

particular  be  incorporated  in  the  articles  of  co-partner- 
ship, and  there  will  be  less  chance  for  misunderstand- 
ings in  the  future. 

If  not  inserted  in  the  articles,  it  ought  to  be  distinct- 
ly understood  what  particular  duty  each  member  of  the 
firm  is  to  perform  or  take  in  charge.  The  man  who  is 
sharpest,  best  posted,  and  is  fitted  for  the  place,  should 
be  the  buyer.  Another  should  take  charge  of  the 
office  work,  while  others  should  have  charge  of  the 
store  itself,  getting  out  orders,  keeping  up  stock,  etc. 

If  each  one  has  his  path  marked  out  for  him  in  this 
way,  there  will  be  much  less  chance  for  friction;  but 
if  each  one  is  to  make  himself  "generally  useful," 
there  will  be  no  end  of  clashing,  and  it  will  finally  end 
in  one  having  to  do  all  the  work,  while  the  others  go 
up  and  down  the  street  complaining  of  their  partner 
to  whoever  will  listen  to  them.  Such  a  partner  as 
this  will  destroy  whatever  pleasure  there  might  other- 
wise be  found  in  doing  business.  He  will  begin  with 
petty  stories  that  mean  nothing,  but  will  continue 
until  he  is  prepared  to  falsify  every  action  of  his 
partner.  And  a  man  of  this  kind  is  always  a  two- 
faced  one.  Though  he  is  filling  the  city  with  positive 
falsehoods  about  you,  he  will  endeavor  to  impress  upon 
your  mind  that  he  is  yonr  staunchest  friend,  and  is 
under  great  obligations  to  you  for  your  successful 
management  of  the  business. 

Of  course  there  are  good  partners  to  be  met  with; 
men  who  devote  themselves  to  the  business  with  the 
same  earnestness  that  you  bring  to  it:  men  who  are 
too  honorable  to  peddle  stories  about  the  street,  even 


WILL   YOU    BE   A    PARTNER?  137 

if  the  stories  had  a  foundation  of  fact  to  rest  upon,  and 
men  \vh<>  remember  they  are  only  partners,  and  not 
sole  owners  of  the  busine 

Look  at  the  history  of  the  houses  near  you.  There 
are  A,  B,  and  C,  who  began  business  in  'n'4.  At  the 
end  of  the  year  C  left  the  firm.  In  '67  D  bought  in. 
In  'CO  13  left.  A  and  D  continued  in  business  a  year 
and  then  they  gave  two  of  their  clerks  an  interest  with 
them.  Since  January,  '71,  there  have  been  two 
changes,  making  h.y  changes  in  eleven  years.  Such 
constant  changes  do  not  tell  a  good  story,  and  un- 
doubtedly have  been  a  damage  to  their  trade. 

In  another  house  two  of  the  salesmen  were  made 
partners  with  an  interest  in  the  profits  ten  years  ago. 
One  of  these  clerks  was  made  manager  of  the  business, 
and  he  put  his  shoulders  to  the  wheel  with  an  energy 
that  deserved  good  things  in  return.  Last  year  he 
withdrew  from  the  firm.  During  the  time  he  was 
with  it  they  had  had  a  good  trade,  and  ought  to  have 
made  money,  but  lie  told  me  he  would  have  been 
money  in  pocket  had  lie  kept  on  at  his  old  salary. 

So  you  see  "  an  interest  in  the  house"  is  not  quite 
so  sure  a  step  to  riches  as  you  have  been  thinking.  If 
you  have  a  little  money  of  your  own  I  shall  be  sur- 
prised if  you  do  not  start  in  business  for  yourself,  and 
be  the  founder  of  a  house  that  will  one  day  rival  your 
late  employer's. 


138  ON   TUE   KOAD   TO    EICHES. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


STARTING-   IN   BUSINESS. 


The  young  man  who  fancies  that  being  a  clerk  in  a 
dry  goods  store  is  more  "  respectable  "  than  being  a 
farmer,  a  carpenter,  a  printer,  painter,  or  machinist,  is 
not  the  young  man  to  think  of  going  into  business  for 
himself,  even  though  he  can  command  a  goodly  capi- 
tal. To  conduct  business  a  man  must  be  possessed  of 
some  small  amount  of  brains,  and  this  fact  is  a  fatal 
obstacle  to  the  young  man  just  mentioned. 

The  man  who  is  afraid  of  soiling  his  hands,  and 
thinks  no  gentleman  should  be  seen  doing  manual 
labor,  had  better  buy  into  an  established  business,  for 
he  never  can  build  up  a  trade  by  his  own  merits. 

The  man  who  considers  that  all  that  is  necessary  to 
get  rich  is  to  rent  a  room,  stock  the  shelves  with 
goods,  and  the  people  will  come  nocking  in,  anxious 
to  pay  him  big  prices,  had  better  invest  his  money  in 
city  bonds  and  hire  out  as  clerk.  He  may  eventu- 
ally learn  wisdom,  but  he  will  surely  save  his  money. 

Business  men  are  born  to  be  business  men,  and  are 
not  accidental  out-croppings  from  the  great  army  of 
smooth-haired,  nice  young  clerks  who  would  rather 
starve  in  the  city  than  be  independent  in  the  country. 
The  men  who  work  to  the  front  are  those  who  have 


STARTING   IN   BUSINESS.  139 

energy,  tact  and  judgment.  The  greatest  merchants 
have  been  men  who  began  poor,  and  most  of  them 
have  given  as  the  key-note  of  their  success — personal 
industry.  Franklin  said  :  "  In  short,  the  way  to 
wealth,  if  you  desire  it,  is  as  plain  as  the  road  to 
market.  It  depends  chiefly  on  two  words — industry 
and  frugality;  that  is,  waste  neither  time  nor  money, 
but  make  the  best  use  of  both." 

A  man  of  business  should  be  able  to  fix  his  atten- 
tion on  details,  and  be  ready  to  give  every  argnment 
a  hearing.  He  should  have  a  patient  temperament, 
and  a  vigorous,  but  disciplined  imagination;  then  he 
will  plan  boldly,  and  execute  promptly. 

Success  in  life  mainly  depends  upon  perseverance. 
When  a  man  has  determined  to  follow  a  certain  line 
of  business,  he  must  at  the  same  time  resolve  to  per- 
severe until  success  crowns  his  efforts. 

You  have  determined  to  go  into  business  for  your- 
self; your  capital  is  not  large,  and  you  are  prepared 
to  begin  life  proportionately,  determined  to  "  ham- 
mer away "  until  you  have  acquired  wealth.  May 
success  crown  your  efforts! 

If  I  were  starting  in  business,  the  first  point  to 
which  I  would  naturally  pay  attention  would  be  to 
obtain  a  proper  room  in  the  best  location.  It  is 
essential  to  the  success  of  a  retail  tradesman  that  he 
should  establish  himself  in  some  leading  thorough- 
fare.  It  is  much  easier  for  you  to  go  to  your  custom- 
ers than  to  draw  customers  to  you.  A  wholesale 
dealer  will,  or  should,  naturally,  locate  himself  among 
the  wholesale  dealers,  and  if  there  is  one  particular 


140  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

street  in  the  city  where  his  branch  of  trade  is  gener- 
ally located,  there  is  the  best  place  for  him  to  com- 
mence business. 

In  selecting  a  locality  always  bear  in  mind  that  "  a 
rolling  stone  gathers  no  moss."  Fix  upon  premises 
that  you  may  stay  upon  as  long  as  you  live.  "  Three 
removes  are  as  bad  as  a  fire,"  is  as  true  of  business  as 
of  household  affairs. 

Having  found  the  store  you  want,  do  not  put  in  an 
article  until  you  have  secured  a  lease  of  it.  ]STo  one 
should  be  a  tenant  at  will.  If  you  are  successful  in 
building  up  a  good  business,  you  make  the  store  a 
more  valuable  one.  It  is  more  valuable  to  you,  be- 
cause your  customers  know  where  to  find  you,  and 
have  become  accustomed  to  stopping  at  your  door.  It 
would  be  very  valuable  to  other  dealers  in  your  line 
of  business,  as  they,  by  occupying  the  store,  would 
catch  a  good  deal  of  trade  that  was  meant  for  you. 
Consequently,  have  a  written  lease  of  the  room,  or 
rooms,  and  take  the  lease  for  a  number  of  years,  or 
for  a  few  years,  with  the  privilege  of  continuing  it  a 
longer  period. 

The  next  step  in  order  is  to  provide  store  furniture 
and  fixtures.  Of  course  these  will  depend  altogether 
upon  your  business.  A  retail  grocer  does  not  provide 
the  elegant  room  that  the  dry  goods  dealer  considers 
necessary.  A  retail  boot  and  shoe  store  cannot  com- 
pete with  the  jeweler's  room.  So  among  the  whole- 
salers; a  hardware  store  requires  shelves;  a  dry  goods 
store  tables;  a  boot  and  shoe  dealer  scarcely  anything 
but  a  bare  room.     There  is  the  office,  however,  and  an 


STARTING    IN    Bl  8INES6.  1  I  1 

important  part  of  every  wholesale  store.     There  is  a 
chance  for  display  when  fittting  up  the  office,  providing 

yon  want  display.  I  remember  a  concern  who  were 
doing  business  in  my  day,  who  fitted  np  their  office 
with  royal  extravagance;  magnificent  desks  for  every 
one,  from  the  private  desks  of  the  proprietors  down  to 
the  porter's  desk;  splendid  and  very  high-priced  car- 
pets; clocks  that  would  have  done  credit  to  the  Tuil- 
eries;  inkstands  and  so  on  of  beautiful  design  and  cor- 
respondingly expensive.  It  was  a  treat  to  go  through 
their  office.  But  when,  a  few  months  later,  it  was 
known  that  the  firm  was  compromising  with  their 
creditors,  and  were  not  paying  anywhere  near  one 
hundred  cents  on  the  dollar,  there  was  a  srencral  wasr- 
ging  of  heads,  and  a  universal  "  I  told  you  so,"  among 
the  merchants  who  clung  to  old  fogy  principles.  Not 
that  the  office  furnishings  had  ruined  them,  hut  that 
room  was  a  fair  exhibition  of  their  style  of  doing  bu>i- 
ness — too  much  paid  out  for  show. 

A  business  office  should  be  fitted  up  for  business, 
not  for  a  ladies'  reception-room,  nor  to  look  like  a 
parlor  in  a  dwelling  house.  A  traveling  man's  expe- 
rience has  taught  him  that  all  the  wisdom  of  the  world 
is  not  confined  to  city  limits,  but  that  our  country 
cousins  can  easily  match  us  in  putting  two  ami  two 
together,  and  making  them  count  four.  And  these 
same  country  cousins,  upon  entering  an  office  which 
has  been  fitted  up  as  it  for  a  lady's  boudoir,  are  apt  to 
inquire,  "who  pays  for  all  these  things?"  Fix  up 
your  office  so  that  it  will  be  convenient  and  comforta- 
ble for  yourself  and  your  clerks,  but  do  not  imagine 


142  ON   THE   ROAD   TO   EICHES. 

that  you  will  get  a  larger  order  from  a  customer  out 
of  an  upholstered  chair,  than  you  would  if  you  were 
both  seated  on  a  box  of  merchandise. 

Tour  signs  will  next  demand  your  attention.  If 
your  business  is  such  that  you  can,  have  a  sign  out 
indicating  the  character  of  it.  If  in  the  hardware 
trade,  you  can  have  a  pad-lock  or  an  anvil ;  if  in  boots 
and  shoes,  an  immense  boot;  and  so  on.  Do  not  be 
niggardly  about  your  signs.  They  are  to  last  for 
years.  Have  your  name  and  your  business  promi- 
nent.    The  fewer  words  the  better.     A  sign  like  this: 


JOHN    BROWN,    DRY   GOODS. 


is  seen  farther,  and  serves  the  purpose  better  than  if 
you  had  attempted  to  say  more;  compare  it  with  this: 


JOHN  BROWN,  Dealer  in  DRY  GOODS  ani  NOTIONS. 


If  you  have  rented  a  tenement  from  basement  to 
garret,  place  signs  on  every  story;  you  are  only  paying 
out  so  much  for  a  permanent  advertisement,  and  with- 
out advertising  you  need  not  expect  to  do  much  busi- 
ness. Signs  at  the  door  are  also  desirable,  as  they 
catch  the  eye  of  the  passer-by,  who  would  not  have 
looked  above  his  head.  Such  signs  may  have  several 
words  on  them,  as  one  begins  to  read  them  when  he  is 


STARTING    IX 


143 


some  distance  away,  and  continues  to  face  them  for 
several  seconds.     I  like  one  after  this  style: 


CHOICE 

GROCERIES 

CANNED  GOODS, 

Fresh  Fruits  and  Vegetables 

PURE  IMPORTED  WISES. 


Strictly  One  Price. 


14i  ON   THE   KOAD    TO    MCHES. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


BUYING    GOODS. 


An  old-fashioned  trader  is  said  to  have  made  his 
money  by  "  buying  cheap  and  selling  dear."  "Whether 
"  selling  dear "  is  a  good  business  principle  or  not 
does  not  concern  us  at  this  time,  but  there  is  no 
doubt  that  "buying  cheap"  is  an  absolute  neces- 
sity, both  for  the  purposes  of  building  up  trade  and 
of  making  money.  The  man  who  can  sell  goods  is  a 
valuable  man  to  have  around,  but  the  man  who  can 
huy  rightly  is  a  necessity.  If  business  was  done  on 
the  principle  we  so  often  see  in  the  retailers'  adver- 
tisements, "One  Price  Only,"  one  man  could  buy  as 
well  as  another,  but  there  are  about  as  many  different 
prices  for  the  same  article  as  there  are  customers;  and 
in  a  great  measure  this  is  a  necessity.  It  is  all  well 
enough  to  advertise  a  business  as  being  strictly  one 
price,  and  it  is  possible  to  carry  on  a  retail  business  on 
this  principle;  but  the  jobber  finds  himself  obliged  to 
cut  his  garment  according  to  his  cloth,  and  do  the  best 
with  each  customer  that  the  circumstances  admit.  It 
is  right  that  a  man  who  buys  one  hundred  gross  of  an 
article  should  get  them  cheaper  than  one  who  buys 
a  single  gross.  It  is  right  that  a  man  who  pays 
promptly  should  buy  cheaper  than  one  who  allows  his 


BUYING    GOODS.  145 

bills  to  drag  along  months  after  they  are  due.  It  is 
right  that  a  man  who  is  sound  beyond  possibility  of 
doubt  should  buy  cheaper  than  one  who  is  liable  to  be 
Bwamped  by  any  little  change  of  trade.  But  the  men 
who  ought  to  buy  cheapest  are  not  always  the  ones 
who  do.  I  have  known  some  of  he  sharpest  buyers 
to  be  men  who  bought  only  in  very  small  quantities, 
and  men,  too,  of  small  means.  The  seller  takes  the 
buyer's  measure  in  a  very  short  time,  and  the  figures 
are  quoted  according  to  the  man,  and  not  to  his  cir- 
cumstances. The  talk  about  the  riirht  and  the  wron» 
of  the  thing  is,  in  my  opinion,  all  bosh.  An  article  is 
worth  what  it  will  sell  for.  If  I  ask  you  five  dollars 
for  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  you  pay  it,  we  have  simply 
made  a  trade.  You  have  my  shoes  and  I  have  your 
money.  If  you  did  not  like  my  price,  or  if  you  could 
have  done  better  elsewhere,  you  were  not  obliged  to 
buy  my  shoes.  It  was  your  privilege  to  take  them  or 
not,  as  you  saw  fit.  If  I  had  sold  the  shoes  to  you  for 
perfect  shoes  when  I  knew  them  to  be  imperfect,  I 
cheated  you.  If  I  told  you  five  dollars  was  the  lowest 
price  I  ever  sold  a  pair  for,  or  would  sell  for,  when  I 
had  sold  out  of  the  same  case  for  four  dollars  and  a 
half,  I  lied  to  you.  But  if  you  asked  me  my  price 
and  paid  it,  I  have  treated  you  honestly,  even  though 
I  should  let  another  pair  of  the  same  shoes  go  for 
four  dollars. 

The  one  price  system  is  a  favorite  idea  among  an 
enthusiastic  class  of  men  who  think  they  can  do  any- 
thing until  they  have  a  chance  to  try  their  skill. 
Two  young  men  came  to  a  western  city  from  two  of 

10 


146  ON    THE    ROAD   TO   RICHES. 

our  prominent  eastern  cities  and  opened  a  jobbing 
store.  Coming  from  the  East  they  naturally  thought 
it  would  require  but  little  effort  to  outsell  the  traders 
already  established  in  the  place  of  their  destination. 
Business  was  to  be  done  "on  the  strictest  business 
principles,"  according  to  their  advertisement,  and 
everything  was  to  move  like  an  automatic  show  of 
wax  figures.  But,  above  all  else,  they  were  to  have 
but  one  price,  and  only  one  price.  To  Tom,  Dick 
and  Harry;  to  the  man  who  bought  one  dozen  spools 
of  thread,  and  to  the  man  who  bought  a  thousand 
dozen,  there  was  to  be  no  difference  in  jjrice;  "busi- 
ness was  business." 

They  opened  a  very  fair  stock  of  goods,  sent  men 
out  on  the  road  to  solicit  trade,  and  prepared  to  do  a 
laro;e  business.  But  somehow  or  other  the  lar^e  busi- 
ness  did  not  come  to  them.  Their  prices  were  as  in- 
flexible as  the  laws  of  the  Med.es  and  Persians,  and 
every  one  had  to  pay  their  price  or  leave  the  goods. 

You  can  see  how  it  would  naturally  work.  A,  who 
buys  but  one  dozen  collars  at  a  time  and  has  been 
paying  sixty  cents,  finds  that  the  new  firm  sells  the 
same  article  for  fifty  cents.  He  buys  a  dozen.  B 
buys  fifty  dozen  at  a  time  and  is  a  good  customer;  the 
the  old  houses  sell  him  close  and  quote  this  collar  at 
43c.  lie  calls  on  the  new  firm.  Their  price  is  50c. 
Can't  they  do  a  little  better  than  that?  No,  sir,  if  he 
took  a  thousand  dozen.  All  right,  he  must  buy  else- 
where. The  one  price  system  means  cheap  goods  to 
the  small  trader,  or  careless  buyer,  but  means  high 
prices  for  the  close  buyer.     Our  friends  found  they 


BUYING     GOODS.  147 

had  not  done  the  business  they  expected;  what  was  tho 
matter?  Their  traveling  man  explained  that  he  was 
cutoff  from  large  orders  because  lie  could  not  make 
concessions.  Still  they  did  not  see  it.  Another  3 
Bhowed  them  no  different  result.  They  now  began  to 
believe  they  had  made  a  mistake,  but  it  was  too  late 
to  amend  their  fortunes.  Among  good  buyers  they 
had  the  name  of  being  above  the  market,  and  they 
could  not  gain  any  of  that  trade.  They  closed  out 
their  business  poorer  and  wiser  men. 

A  good  buyer  must  of  necessity  be  a  man  possessed 
of  a  good  memory.  He  must  be  well  and  thoroughly 
posted.  He  must  be  a  man  of  pleasing  address  and 
of  genial  temperament.  You  cannot  scowl  a  man's 
price  down;  yon  may  coax  it  down.  If  there  are  a 
dozen  manufacturers  of  a  particular  article,  a  good 
buyer  will  not  give  his  order  until  he  has  learned  the 
lowest  price  of  each  of  the  twelve.  The  aim  of  every 
man  in  business  should  he  to  buy  lower  than  his 
neighbors.  To  do  this  he  must  never  be  satisfied  with 
a  quotation  until  he  know-  he  cannot  better  it. 

The  ordinary  buyer  goes  to  New  York  and  puts  up 
at  a  hotel.  His  next  move  is  to  call  on  some  of  his 
cronies  among  the  houses  selling  goods  in  his  line, 
and  with  them  he  mikes  "a  night  of  it.'1  Ee  is 
treated  to  win'  at  their  expense,  cig.u-s.  goes  to  the 
theater,  etc.,  and  is  escorted  to  his  hotel.  In  the 
morning  they  arc  waiting  tor  him  in  the  hotel  ofl 
and  their  friendly  watchfulness  keeps  him  from  get- 
ting into  other  hands  until  they  have  sold  him  all  he 
wants.      He  may  know  that  he  is  paying  a  Utile  more 


148  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    KICHES. 

than  he  had  been  offered  the  same  goods  for,  but  how 
can  he  complain,  they  are  such  good  fellows!  It  is 
no  uncommon  thing  to  have  goods  offered  in  one's 
own  store  for  less  money  than  his  partner  is  paying 
for  them  in  New  York. 

We  all  have  our  preferences,  and  would  be  glad  to 
indulge  them  providing  we  do  not  have  to  pay  for  it; 
the  man  who  pays  a  little  more  for  an  article  because 
the  seller  is  his  friend,  is  unfit  to  be  in  business. 

When  you  go  to  the  city  to  buy  goods,  carry  a 
carefully-prepared  memorandum  of  what  you  are 
going  to  buy.  Where  partners  are  in  business  this 
should  be  gone  over  carefully,  with  each  one  by  to 
assist  and  advise.  The  opinions  of  the  stock  clerk 
and  salesman  should  also  be  consulted.  The  first 
business  on  hand  is  getting  posted. 

Don't  imagine  that  you  must  be  dignified  and 
impressive  in  order  to  get  the  lowest  figures;  the 
same  qualities  that  make  a  man  successful  in  introdu- 
cing himself  when  selling  goods  are  necessary  when 
he  is  buying  goods.  If  the  house  knows  you  and 
your  standing,  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  begin  the  busi- 
ness of  posting  up  at  once.  If  you  are  a  stranger, 
you  will  give  them  references;  state  how  you  want  to 
buy,  whether  for  cash  or  on  time,  and  then  ask  to  be 
shown  through  the  stock. 

Inform  your  man  at  the  outset  that  you  are  not  in- 
tending to  buy  that  day,  nor  until  you  have  posted 
yourself  up  a  little,  and  that  you  intend  to  buy  where 
you  can  do  the  best.  Don't  tell  too  much,  however. 
A  s  you  are  not  intending  to  buy  then,  it  is  not  neces- 


BUYING    G00D8.  149 

sary  to  tell  him  just  how  much  of  this,  that  and  the 
other  thing  you  are  going  to  order,  unless  you  are 
going  to  make  a  large  order — then  tell  him  by  all 
means.  When  you  do  order,  he  may  object  to  giving 
you  such  very  low  figures  on  so  small  an  amount  of 
that  particular  item,  but  he  cannot  very  well  go  up 
on  it.  We  must  be  "  wise  as  serpents,"  we  are  told; 
and  it  is  a  very  wise  man  indeed  who  knows  when  to 
hold  his  tongue. 

It  is  for  your  interest  to  make  the  salesman  who 
is  showing  you  around  your  friend.  lie  can  help  you 
if  he  chooses.  If  your  memory  is  not  an  excellent 
<>ne  write  down  the  prices  he  gives  you.  When  he 
lias  shown  you  around,  call  on  another,  and  repeat  the 
performance.  Don't  buy  until  yon  have  been  around 
the  circle.  Comparing  notes  after  your  campaign, 
you  will  probably  find  quite  a  variation  in  prices. 
Make  lists  of  the  articles  that  each  house  is  cheapest, 
and  then  go  around  and  give  your  orders.  The  one 
who  is  largely  the  cheapest  should  be  called  on  first. 
After  you  have  ordered  the  articles  on  his  list,  see  if 
hi'  will  not  put  in  the  other  goods  at  the  prices  quoted 
by  the  other  houses.  If  he  will,  give  him  the  order; 
it  is  not  well  to  cut  up  your  trade  unless  you  can  buy 
cheaper  by  so  doing. 

You  have  now  got  your  stock  of  goods  and  are  post- 
ed as  to  market  prices.  You  will  probably  keep  vour 
stock  up  during  the  season  by  buying  of  traveling 
mi 'n.  And  I  think  it  is  generally  conceded  that  one 
can  buy  much  cheaper  in  his  own  store,  of  traveling 
men,   than  he  could  if  in   the  seller's  store,  dealing 


150  ON   THE   KOAD    TO    KICIIES. 

direct  with  the  principals.  Men  are  out  to  sell,  and 
they  will  sell  if  they  possibly  can.  Keep  in  their 
srood  srraces.  Thev  can  serve  you  well,  if  treated 
with  the  courtesy  that  their  position  entitles  them  to. 
But  it  is  not  good  policy  to  get  one  man's  figures  sim- 
ply for  the  purpose  of  making  some  one  else  come 
down  in  price.  Be  tied  to  no  house  nor  man. 
Buy  of  the  man  who  offers  you  the  cheapest  goods, 
and  guarantees  the  quality  to  be  equal  to  the  others. 

Enter  every  order  you  give  in  a  book  kept  for  that 
purpose;  minute  the  quantities,  prices,  and  terms  of 
payment.  When  the  invoice  is  received,  compare  it 
with  this  order.  If  any  discrepancy  exists,  report  it 
at  once. 

But  after  all,  a  very  important  maxim  in  buying  is 
to  buy  no  more  than  you  want. 

Two-thirds  of  the  men  who  fail  in  the  business  are 
of  the  class  who  will  buy  twice  as  much  of  an  article 
as  they  really  need,  because  they  can  get  it  five  per 
cent,  less!  How  often  have  you  not  known  some  of  your 
customers  to  buy  two  years'  stock  of  an  article  simply 
because  you  made  a  concession  in  price? 

Don't  buy  more  than  you  want  for  your  season's 
trade,  no  matter  how  cheap  it  is,  unless  you  have 
money  lying  idle  in  the  bank,  and  you  are  sure  you 
will  not  need  it  in  your  business. 

Where  two  different  manufacturers  make  a  similar 
article,  and  sell  at  the  same  figure,  buy  the  goods  that 
are  best  known  in  your  market.  And  when  you  have 
bought,  and  know  that  you  have  bought  at  low  figures, 
do  not  boast  of  it  on  the  street.     My  experience  leads 


BUYING    GOODS.  1  5  1 

me  to  think  that  the  man  who  goes  up  and  down  the 
street  boasting  of  his  purchases,  is  generally  the  man 
who  pays  very  good  prices;  for  men  with  close  figures 

do  not  name  them  to  a  man  who  has  not  capacity 
enough  to  keep  his  business  to  himself. 

Rules  for  buying  goods  might  be  boiled  down  into 
two  maxims:  Goods  are  never  cheap  enough,  provided 
they  can  be  bought  cheaper.  A  goood  buyer  hears 
and  sees  a  great  deal  more  than  he  tells. 


152  ON   THE   EOAD   TO   KIOHES. 


CHAPTER    XXIY. 


STORE  ASSISTANTS. 


"While  your  goods  are  coming  to  you  from  near  and 
far,  and  before  you  attempt  to  open  or  display  them, 
let  us  see  about  your  needs  in  the  way  of  help — por- 
ters, clerks  and  salesmen.  You  will  find  one  hundred 
men  who  will  be  willing  to  work  for  you,  and  there 
may  not  be  a  good  one  for  your  purposes  among  the 
number.  The  market  is  overstocked  with  clerks.  To- 
day's quotations  are  similar  to  yesterday's,  last  month's, 
last  year's.  "  '  Prime;  '  the  number  of  'prime'  offer- 
ing are  few,  and  easily  selected  by  good  merchants. 
There  was  a  brisk  demand  for  '  good '  at  fair  prices. 
'  Culls '  were  plenty,  but  the  price  was  only  nominal, 
as  there  was  no  demand." 

There  is  no  position  in  the  store  that  is  not  a  place 
of  trust,  and  none  that  your  interest  does  not  require 
should  be  filled  by  a  trusty  person.  But  because  the 
porter  does  not  sell,  does  not  touch  the  cash,  does  not 
handle  the  checks,  we  are  apt  to  think  that  almost  any 
one  who  will  work  for  the  wages  is  suitable  for  the 
position.  We  hire  a  man,  and  the  first  transaction 
with  him  after  he  has  come  to  work  is  to  give  him  the 
key  of  the  store!  Every  dollar  we  own  in  the  world  is  in 
goods  piled  up  on  our  shelves,  and  the  porter  has  a  key 


STORE     ASSISTANTS.  153 

to  the  room;  but  we  think  any  one  will  do  for  a  porter! 
Outside  of  the  largest  cities  a  good  porter  can  be 
hired  lor  wages  varying  from  $25  to  $50  per  month. 
He  should  bring  you  undoubted  references  as  to  his 
honesty,  sobriety  and  disposition.  lie  should  be  able 
to  read  and  write,  and  the  better  he  can  do  these  the 
more  valuable  he  will  be.  He  should  be  at  the  store 
in  the  morning  early  enough  to  have  it  cleaned  out  by 
the  hour  when  it  should  be  opened  for  trade.  He 
should  be  the  last  one  there  at  niudit.  You  could 
probably  hire  a  boy  for  much  less  than  you  will  have 
to  pay  a  man,  but  it  is  doubtful  economy.  Boys  have 
so  much  else  on  their  mind  that  they  cannot  bring 
themselves  down  to  mere  business  duties.  I  had  ex- 
perience of  this  kind  which  fully  satisfied  me.  One 
boy  was  naturally  quick  and  bright;  what  he  did  he 
did  well.  But  there  was  always  trouble  between  him 
and  the  clerks  above  him.  He  was  really  too  smart 
for  the  position.  He  left  and  I  had  a  siege  with  a 
wooden-headed  young  man.  It  was  his  duty  to  see 
that  the  store  was  securely  fastened  every  night,  but 
I  aecidently  discovered  a  back-door  wide  open  one 
night,  long  after  he  had  gone  home,  and  after  that  I 
made  it  my  duty  to  see  if  all  was  properly  secured 
before  I  left  the  store.  I  think  I  found  the  door  un- 
locked at  least  one  night  out  of  three,  and  all  cautions 
and  complaints  could  not  make  him  more  faithful. 
When  a  man  took  his  place  I  slept  easier  o'nights.  A 
good  man  can  be  relied  upon,  and  will  ease  your  mind 
of  worry.  Select  him  with  caution,  treat  him  fairly, 
and  he  will  stay  with  you  for  years. 


151 


ON    THE    IiOAD    TO    KICUES. 


The  stock  clerk  should  be  one  who  has  had  experi- 
ence in  the  business,  and  a  person  of  good  judgment. 
A  man  who  has  been  salesman  on  the  road  makes  the 
best  stock  clerk.  It  should  be  his  duty  to  get  out 
orders,  mark  goods  and  put  them  away,  check  invoices 
of  goods  coming  in,  and  to  report  goods  running  low, 
so  that  more  can  be  ordered  before  the  stock  shall  be 
quite  exhausted.  He  should  have,  under  the  proprie- 
or,  full  charge  of  the  store  and  clerks  outside  the  office. 
Men  with  the  experience  and  ability  necessary  to  fit 
them  for  this  position  are  not  plenty.  They  demand 
a  salary  of  from  $800  a  year  upwards,  according  to 
ability  and  experience  in  trade. 

The  shipping  clerk  should  be  a  young  man  who  is 
anxious  to  work  his  way  up  in  the  store.  He  should 
be  able  to  write  plainly  and  rapidly.  After  seeing  to 
shipping,  checking  off  goods  going  out  and  in,  to  see 
that  no  mistakes  are  made,  he  shonld  assist  at  getting 
out  orders.  Boys  of  eighteen  or  twenty  can  be  found 
for  this  position  who  will  work  for  small  pay,  and  the 
sons  of  men  who  are  wealthy  will  often  work  without 
wages,  but  these  are  generally  very  dear  help  indeed. 

The  entry  clerk  should  have  a  desk  in  the  office,  and 
another  in  that  part  of  the  store  where  the  orders  are 
laid  out.  The  duties  of  the  position  are  not  very 
heavy,  and  as  the  book-keeper  is  expected  to  examine 
his  work  and  watch  his  progress,  a  young  man  who  is 
able  to  write  well  and  rapidly  can  fill  the  position, 
even  if  he  has  no  previous  business  experience.  He 
should  be  quick  at  figures,  and  as  nearly  absolutely 
correct  as  jjossible.     While  you  can  hire  young  men 


STORE    AJSSISTAJrrS.  153 

for  this  position  at  very  low  wages  $25  to  $50  per 
month — you  will  find  that  it  is  true  economy  to  pay  a 
good  price  and  get  a  man  with  some  previous  business 
experience.     As  the  book-keeper  is  in  a  great  measure 

responsible  for  his  work,  he  should  be  obliged  to  respect 
his  wishes  and  directions. 

To  rind  a  good  book-keeper  is  a  very  perplexing  task. 
You  are  necessarily  so  much  in  his  power;  the  position 
is  one  that  requires  perfect  integrity;  and  unless  hi 
absolutely  correct,  lie  may  by  somepetty  blunder  drive 
away  a  customer  whose  trade  is  worth  hundreds  ot 
dollars  per  annum. 

The  average  book-keeper  is  a  very  dapper  fellow. 
His  clothes  are  made  by  the  most  fashionable  tail<  >r.  and 
are  one  hundred  per  cent,  better  than  his  employer 
wears.  His  time  is  so  fully  taken  up  with  society  that 
lie  is  obliged  to  make  appointments  for  business  hours. 
He  passes  through  the  store  entirely  unconcerned, 
though  there  may  be  several  customers  waiting  for  one 
salesman  to  attend  to  them.  And  he  expects  that  every 
January  shall  see  an  advance  in  his  salary. 

To  keep  a  set  of  books  does  not  require  a  vast 
amount  of  brains,  nor  a  very  long  apprenticeship. 
To  be  a  good  book-keener  requires  a  clear  head,  ex^l- 
lent  judgment,  correct  habits,  and  the  ability  to  write 
and  compute  with  great  rapidity.  And  this  is  why 
good  book-keepers  are  so  difficult  to  find.  If  you 
should  advertise  for  one  you  would  be  overrun  with 
applicants  within  a  few  minutes  after  the  issue  of  the 
paper,  but  it  would  not  be  strange  if  there  was  not  a 
desirable  man  anions  the  number. 


156  ON   TIIE   KOAD    TO    KICIIES. 

"When  you  find  one  who  is  well  recommended,  take 
him  awhile  on  trial,  and  then,  if  he  pleases  you, 
determine  to  keep  him  so  long  as  he  attends  to  his 
duties.  Let  him  and  all  your  other  men  know  exactly 
what  their  duties  are,  and  hold  each  one  to  a  strict 
performance  of  them.  Your  book-keeper,  if  he  is 
quick  and  correct,  will  gradually  take  almost  entire 
control  of  your  office  atfairs  out  of  your  hands,  pro- 
viding you  allow  him.  For  your  sake,  and  for  his, 
do  not  allow  it.  Giving  a  young  (or  old)  man  entire 
control  of  your  books  and  easily  only  relying  on  a 
monthly  balance  sheet,  is  simply  placing  temptation 
in  his  way.  Monthly  balance  sheets  are  good  things 
in  their  way,  but  they  do  not  offer  the  slightest  pro- 
tection against  an  accountant  who  desires  to  peculate, 
and  they  do  not  show  that  the  postings  are  absolutely 
right,  though  they  are  popularly  supposed  to  show 
that  everything  is  in  perfect  order.  A  balance  sheet 
will  tell  me  that  I  have  posted  Smith's,  Brown's  and 
Johnson's  payments  to  the  credit  side  of  their  account, 
but  it  will  not  show  whether  I  have  posted  the  pay- 
ments to  the  right  accounts  or  not.  The  $50  paid  by 
Smith  may  have  been  credited  to  Johnson,  and  the 
$20  paid  by  Johnson  may  have  been  credited  to 
Smith,  but  the  balance  sheet  does  not  discover  mis- 
takes of  this  character.  If  you  keep  a  close  watch  on 
all  your  money  receipts  and  expenditures,  your  daily 
cash  balances,  and  sign  your  own  checks  and  drafts, 
you  will  be  doing  yourself  and  your  book-keeper  a 
duty  that  should  never  be  neglected.  Merchants  are 
npt  to  place  strong  temptations  in  the  way  of  their 


STORE    ASSISTANTS.  \  ■>  t 

clerks,  and  the  failure  to  resist  is  more  a  weakness 
than  a  crime. 

The  salesmen  are  the  most  important  of  your  clerics; 
a  good  one  will  increase  your  business,  add  to  your 
profits,  and  be  of  the  same  service  as  a  partner  would 
have  been.  A  poor  salesman  will  drive  away  trade,  and 
may  ruin  your  prospects.  Let  "  fancy  men  "  severely 
alone.  Avoid  all  "  loud  "  fellows.  Do  not  allow  a 
man  who  indulges  freely  in  intoxicating  liquors,  to 
carry  your  card  through  the  country.  A  man  of  quiet 
manners,  unostentatious  both  in  dress  and  in  speech, 
quick-witted,  a  ready  reckoner,  and  one  who  is  ambi- 
tious to  work  his  way  up  in  the  world,  will  sell  more 
goods,  make  more  friends  and  keep  them,  and  get  bet- 
ter prices  than  will  one  who  works  only  that  he  may 
have  better  clothes,  and  be  more  of  a  "  b-hoy."  Men 
who  have  had  experience  in  a  retail  store  generally  do 
better  on  the  road  than  they  would  without  that  expe- 
rience. 

As  with  your  book-keeper,  so  with  your  traveling 
men;  if  you  are  careless  about  their  accounts,  you  are 
measurably  responsible  should  the  temptation  be  too 
great,  and  they  should  fail  to  report  all  their  collec- 
tions. Have  them  report  their  collections  daily;  bal- 
ance their  accounts  each  trip;  oblige  them  to  settle  up 
all  accounts  by  note  if  they  are  not  paid,  then  you  have 
the  note  or  the  cash.  Have  them  keep  an  accurate 
account  of  traveling  expenses,  and  let  them  see  that 
you  watch  this  account  closely.  Advise  with  them 
about  purchases,  and  make  them  interested  in  your  suc- 
cess beyond  the  mere  point  of  their  salary. 


15S  OX   THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

In  a  former  chapter  I  have  said  something  about 
partners  who  had  too  much  to  say  about  one  another. 
I  want  to  say  here  that  many  merchants  talk  too  much 
about  their  clerics.  If  a  man  does  pretty  well  on  the 
road,  they  sing  his  praises  up  and  down  the  street;  if 
another  lias  a  poor  trip,  or  has  made  a  loss  for  the  firm, 
they  are  anxious  that  every  one  shall  know  how  much 
tliey  are  displeased  witli  him.  The  true  business  man 
keeps  his  lips  closed  about  his  affairs,  except  when  it 
is  necessary  to  speak.  He  does  not  damn  his  men  one 
day  and  praise  them  the  next.  If  he  has  a  complaint 
to  make,  it  is  made  to  the  one  who  has  offended,  and 
not  to  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry,  who  have  no  interest  in 
it  whatever.  There  are  men  so  constituted  that  they 
can  never  find  fault  in  a  straightforward,  manly  man- 
ner. If  they  are  in  business  and  have  a  jjartner,  they 
push  all  such  work  over  on  him.  Then  they  take  care 
that  the  offender  shall  see  how  much  better  fellows  they 
are  than  the  partner  who  has  been  complaining.  One 
does  not  know  what  human  nature  is  before  he  has 
been  in  partnership. 

Before  I  leave  the  subject  of  employees,  I  must  nofc 
omit  mentioning  the  danger  of  having  clerks  who  talk 
too  much.  Be  watchful  of  your  men  in  this  particular. 
If  you  hear  of  your  book-keeper's  mentioning  any 
details  of  the  business  outside,  discharge  him  at  once; 
lie  is  a  dangerous  man.  If  you  hear  or  know  of  any 
of  your  housemen  having  told  the  cost  of  goods,  or  any 
other  matter  that  should  not  be  spoken  of  except  among 
themselves,  set  them  adrift  as  soon  as  possible.  If  you 
have  a  clerk  who    is  so  thoroughly  stupid  as  to  let  a 


STORE     ASSISTANTS.  159 

drnmmer  pump  him,  and  draw  out  of  him  the  pr 

you  have  been  paying  fortheg Is  he  Is  trying  to  sell 

yon,  you  had  much  better  pay  that  man  to  Btay  out  of 
the  store.  Be  stricl  npon  this  point.  Have  your  men 
understand  that  they  arc  paid  for  keeping  their  lips 
shut  about  your  business,  and  do  not  keep  a  man 
whom  you  know  to  have  violated  this  rule.  Thousands 
of  men  arc  ruined  by  the  chattering  of  their  clerks;  do 
not  allow  your  name  to  he  added  to  that  list. 

In  selecting  clerks  for  a  retail  store  as  much  care 
must  he  observed  as  if  the  business  was  of  the  largest 
proportions.  Every  person  who  steps  into  a  store  does 
not  come  in  with  his  mind  made  up  to  purchase.  Some 
of  the  customers  come  in  merely  by  accident;  some  of 
the  callers  are  on  a  tour  of  enquiry;  some;  come  in 
without  any  intention  of  buying  then  or  thereafter,  but 
merely  to  pass  away  time,  or  to  post  themselves  so  that 
their  regular  dealer  may  not  take  advantage  of  them. 

And  the  clerk  who  will  take  trade  of  this  kind,  and 
turn  it  into  purchasing  customers,  must  be  something 
more  than  a  wooden-headed  young  man.  It  does  not 
do  to  take  every  man's  word  for  it  that  he  does  not 
intend  to  buy.  That  is  a  question  yon  can  decide 
better  after  you  have  tried,  and  you  ought  to  have  some 
men  around  you  whom  you  would  be  willing  to  turn 
over  one  of  these  questioners  to,  with  the  feeling  that 
the  clerk  will  get  an  order  from  him.  if  one  is  to  be 
had.  The  first  important  requisite  of  a  good  clerk  is 
that  he  shall  understand  his  business.  I  know  of 
nothing  more  unsatisfactory  than  to  trade  with  a  man 
who  knows  no  mure  about  his  goods  than    is   told  on 


1G0  ON   THE   EOAD    TO    EICIIES. 

the  label.  I  would  rather  twice  over  attempt  to  sell 
a  bill  at  wholesale  to  the  ordinary  merchant,  than  to 
wait  on  the  best  class  of  consumers,  unless  I  knew  my 
business  from  A  to  Z.  The  merchant's  knowledge  of 
an  article  is  often  merely  a  selling  knowledge,  but  the 
consumer  is  a  practical  man,  knows  what  he  wants,  may 
have  posted  himself  among  his  neighbors  about  their 
experience,  and  he  is  an  expert  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses in  the  line  of  goods  he  asks  for.  If  I  make  a 
mistake  he  is  abundantly  able  to  correct  me,  and  if  he 
sees  I  am  not  well  posted  in  the  article  I  am  selling 
he  can  easily  confuse  me.  "We  all  like  to  deal  with  a 
man  who  knows  his  trade,  and  we  have  more  confi- 
dence in  the  goods  you  are  commending  when  we  have 
found  you  are  well  posted  about  other  brands  known 
to  us. 

I  think  it  a  sure  sign  of  ability  in  a  young  man 
to  see  him  constantly  learning  points  about  the  goods 
he  is  handling,  and  who  has  an  eager  interest  in  every 
thing  concerning  his  trade.  I  go  into  stores  daily 
where  clerks  have  only  the  most  superficial  knowledge 
about  their  wares,  and  I  am  surprised  that  they  are 
kept  in  employ.  There  are  enough  young  men  who 
will  eagerly  grasp  at  a  chance  to  work  up,  and  no 
clerk  can  work  up  without  at  the  same  time  helping 
his  employer.  It  it  the  best  test  of  the  value  of  a 
clerk  to  know  if  he  is  working  towards  a  higher  goal 
or  not;  if  he  does  not  care  for  his  own  future  he  cer- 
tainly will  not  strain  himself  in  your  behalf. 

Then  the  clerk  with  knowledge  should  have  a  pleas- 
ant manner.     There  are  a  great  many  ways  of  being 


STORE    ASSISTANTS.  161 

pleasant;  but  one  can  be  affable  and  jet  need  not  sit 
down  and  tell  stories  to  one  man,  while  others  are 
standing  around  with  no  one  to  wait  on  them.  The 
clerk  who  can  sell  a  bill  the  quickest  is  the  best  clerk 
in  a  large  retail  store  where  time  is  money.  Yet 
there  are  men  who  can  hurry  trade  and  at  the  same 
time  appear  to  be  taking  it  very  leisurely.  One  does 
not  need  to  rush  at  a  customer  with  a  "  what  is  it  you 
want?"  as  if  you  wanted  him  to  buy  like  lightning 
and  then  clear  out.  One  of  the  most  disagreeable 
men  to  me  in  a  store  when  I  buy  goods,  is  a  clerk 
who  dives  at  me  the  moment  I  come  in  the  store 
with,  "something  you  wish?"  and  I  always  think  he 
is  sroinjr  to  add — "  because  if  there  lis'nt  we  have  no 
room  for  loafers. "  But  I  know  him  so  well  that  I 
know  it  is  only  his  way,  but  it  is  a  very  disagreeble 
way  to  me. 

A  very  unbusiness  habit  permitted  in  many  stores, 
is  that  of  allowing  clerks  to  carry  on  chat  with  each 
other  while  they  are  waiting  on  customers.  I  know 
of  nothing  more  exasperating  than  to  have  a  man  ask 
you  "what  next?"  and  when  he  begins  to  cut  or  weigh 
the  article  out,  see  him  turn  to  a  brother  clerk  at  his 
left  and  pick  up  the  thread  of  his  story,  about  "what  I 
said."  and  "he  said,"  and  more  especially  what  "the 
said."  This  ought  not  to  be  permitted  for  a  moment. 
A  clerk  has  all  he  can  attend  to  properly  in  waiting 
on  the  customer  before  him,  and  if  he  is  anxious  to 
talk  let  him  talk  about  the  goods  he  wants  to  sell. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  when  you  have  several  clerks 
to  pay  them  all  the  same  salary.     It  does  not  encour- 

11 


102  ON   THE   ROAD    TO    EIC1IES. 

age  a  good  man  to  do  better  to  find  he  is  paid  no 
more  than  a  dunce  who  stands  near  him;  and  the 
shiftless  man  will  not  improve  any  the  sooner  when 
he  is  now  paid  as  much  as  the  best  men.  Clerks  are 
good  judges  of  each  other;  they  watch  each  other 
closely,  and  if  one  man  does  less  than  another,  or  is 
slower  witted,  they  soon  find  it  out.  Pay  your  best 
man  the  best  price,  and  have  it  understood  that  every 
other  man  who  will  do  as  well  shall  have  the  same 
pay.  Good  retail  clerks  can  be  hired  at  $35  per 
month,  and  boys  can  be  had  at  almost  any  price. 


AEEANGING    STOCK,  INSURANCE,  ETO.  1G3 


CHAPTEE    XXV. 

ARRANGING    stock,    IN8URANCE,   ETC. 

Tx  a  store  where  the  stock  is  composed  of  a  great 
variety  of  articles,  if  it  is  properly  arranged  with  a 
view  t<>  being  handy  when  getting  out  orders,  a  boy's 
salary  may  be  saved,  and  fewer  mistakes  made  in  get- 
ting out  goods. 

Arranging  the  stock  for  show  in  a  wholesale  store  is 
a  needless  task.  Bringing  handsomely-labeled  goods 
to  the  front  just  because  they  are  handsomely  labeled, 
is  taking  a  very  peculiar  view  of  the  way  to  arrange  a 
wholesale  stock.  Retailers  who  want  goods  are  not 
caught  by  the  bright  labels,  though  they  are  impressed 
by  a  large  stock  of  goods. 

In  arranging  the  stock  the  first  point  to  be  taken 
into  account  is  convenience.  The  articles  most  erener- 
ally  sold  should  be  nearest  the  place  where  orders  are 
laid  out.  If  order-  arc  laid  out  in  the  rear,  then  that 
should  be  the  center  of  the  radius  from  which  to  arrange 
the  stock.  Every  step  saved  in  getting  out  an  order  is 
very  desirable  economy. 

Of  course  heavy  goods  should  be  on  or  close  to  the 
floor,  and  the  bulky,  light  goods  on  the  top.  Each  arti- 
cle should  have  it.-  own  particular  amount  of  space  and 
on  a  particular  shelf,  and  no  matter  how  much  ofsome- 


164  ON  THE   ROAD   TO    EICIIES. 

thing  else  you  have,  do  not  encroach  on  the  space  given 
to  this  particular  article.  By  following  this  rule  you 
will  be  surprised  at  the  ease  with  which  you  can  keep 
the  run  of  the  stock,  compared  with  the  other  way 
of  always  spreading  goods  out  to  fill  up  the  gaps. 

All  goods  when  received  should  be  compared  with 
the  freight  bills  and  the  bills  of  lading.  Mistakes  in 
the  weight  of  boxes  and  bundles  are  of  very  frequent 
occurrence,  and  in  houses  where  business  is  done  with 
the  best  system,  each  box  is  weighed,  and  the  weight 
compared  with  the  freight  bill.  I  know  this  is  a  very 
small  matter,  but  business  is  made  up  of  series  of  small 
matters,  and  every  penny  ought  to  be  saved  as  surely 
as  if  the  pennies  were  so  many  dollars. 

It  should  be  the  porter's  duty  to  bring  in  the  goods 
from  the  sidewalk,  open  the  boxes,  if  they  are  to  be 
opened,  take  out  the  goods  and  pile  them  up  ready 
for  the  stock-clerk.  This  latter  person  should  check 
off  the  goods  with  the  invoice,  mark  them,  and  put 
them  in  their  proper  places  on  the  shelves.  Any 
shortages  should  be  minuted  on  the  bill,  and  also 
reported  verbally  in  the  office.  As  soon  as  known  they 
should  be  reported  to  the  parties  from  whom  the  goods 
were  purchased. 

No  goods  should  be  put  on  the  shelves  until  they 
are  sampled.  This  should  be  a  rule.  It  is  becoming 
more  and  more  general  to  have  a  room  furnished  off 
especially  for  samples,  and  it  is  much  easier  to  keep 
the  goods  looking  well  when  they  are  in  a  place  like 
that.  I  would  rather  sell  a  man  direct  from  the  stock 
myself,  but  it  is  harder  work.     I  like  to  have  the  sam- 


ARRANGING    STOCK,  INSURANCE,  ETC.  L65 

pies  arranged  in  the  center  of  the  store,  where  it  is 
handy  to  refer  to  the  stock,  if  your  customer  desires 
to  have  you  do  so. 

The  samples  should  have  attention  daily;  should  be 
carefully  dusted  and  polished,  and  the  cost  marks  con- 
stantly kept  current  with  new  goods. 

Stock  in  a  retail  store  should  be  arranged  for  effect. 
The  few  goods  should  be  made  to  appear  as  if  there 
was  a  large  stock.  Goods  under  the  head  of  "  fancy 
goods"  should  be  placed  nearest  to  the  doors  and  win- 
dows. Articles  that  every  one  wants  do  not  need  to  be 
displayed  to  sell  them;  the  goods  that  attract  the  eye 
and  pay  the  best  profit  should  be  displayed  freely. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  sell  the  sample  when  it  is  out 
a  few  days,  and  replace  it  with  a  new  one,  or  else  it 
will  have  to  be  sold  under  the  head  of  "  old  stock." 
Goods  that  have  to  be  weighed  should  be  gathered  near 
the  scales,  and  every  effort  made  to  save  steps. 

Every  store  doing  a  business  where  ready  cash  is 
passed  out  and  in,  should  be  provided  with  a  patent 
cash  drawer;  one  that  strikes  an  alarm  when  not  han- 
dled knowingly.  They  are  opened  as  easily  as  a  com- 
mon drawer,  by  the  parties  acquainted  with  the  com- 
bination, and  cost  but  four  or  five  dollars. 

Another  absolute  necessity  in  every  store  is  a  fire- 
proof safe.  It  is  not  so  much  money  thrown  away,  the 
money  paid  for  a  safe,  but  so  much  invested  in  insur- 
ing books  and  papers.  In  cities,  where  banks  are  con- 
venient, money  is  deposited  daily,  and  a  burglar-proof 
safe  is  not  needed.  In  the  country,  however,  if  the 
dealer  can  possibly  afford  it,  he  ought  to  buy  a  fire- 


166  OX   THE   KOAD   TO   RICHES. 

proof  safe  with  a  burglar-proof  box  inside.  It  is  pretty 
well  assured  that  the  outside  shell  of  a  safe  cannot  be 
made  both  burglar  and  fire-proof,  and  the  best  safes 
are  simply  lire-proof,  but  have  fastened  in  them  a  bur- 
glar-proof box.  A  fire-proof  safe  can  be  bought  for 
$60,  and  from  that  up  to  any  amount.  I  believe  the 
smallest  safe  with  burglar-proof  box  is  worth  about 
$200. 

Here  are  a  few  points  to  remember  if  you  have  a 
safe.  Black  ink  will  stand  the  heat  better  than  red. 
Lead  pencil  will  stand  better  than  either,  and  can  be 
read  even  when  the  paper  is  burned  black.  The  heat 
of  afire  coming  from  the  outside  will  affect  the  things 
at  the  sides  first,  consequently  place  your  most  valu- 
able books  in  the  middle  of  the  safe.  Crowd  the  books 
from  the  sides  to  the  center  of  the  safe  for  the  purpose 
of  making  them  tight  together,  as  in  this  condition 
they  will  stand  the  heat  much  longer.  Wood  drawers 
are  preferable  to  iron  for  cash-boxes,  and  for  small  val- 
uable papers,  as  wood  is  a  non-condnctor  of  heat,  and 
iron  is  a  good  conductor.  ISTever  use  in  a  safe  a  leather 
wallet  as  a  receptacle  for  valuable  papers,  as  boiling 
water,  or  heat  at  212  de^.  will  crisp  and  curl  it,  con- 
vert it  into  a  gluey  substance,  and  destroy  the  papers. 
"When  a  safe  has  been  under  fire  send  for  an  expert  to 
open  it. 

The  first  duty  a  man  owes  to  his  creditors  is  to  in- 
sure his  stock  in  reliable  companies.  William  B. 
A -tor  insured  his  own  property;  but  we  are  not  all 
William  B.  Astprs,  and  we  can  better  afford  to  pat- 
ronize existing  companies  than  to  organize  one  of  our 


ARRANGING    STOCK,  INSURANCE,  ETC.  1'  »1 

own.  It  is  astonishing  what  negligence  there  is  in 
this  matter  among  small  country  dealers  the  very 
men  of  all  others  who  should  most  eagerly  take  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity  to  secure  themselves. 

Select  a  good  company,  and  one  having  a  good 
agent  in  your  city  or  town.  There  are  so  many  good 
companies  that  you  can  afford  to  look  along  until  you 
find  one  represented  by  a  good  man.  In  the  first 
place  it  is  pleasanter  doing  business  with  such  a  man, 
when  all  goes  well,  and,  what  is  much  more  impor- 
tant, there  will  be  no  trouble  with  him  in  settling  up 
losses. 

Have  your  insurance  policies  specify  the  amount  of 
risk  on  stock,  on  furniture  and  fixtures,  etc.,  and  be 
careful  to  comply  with  every  requirement  of  the  com- 
pany. Have  nothing  on  the  premises  that  is  prohib- 
ited, and  treat  the  company  honestly  and  fairly. 

Blank  books  and  stationery  are  an  important  item, 
and  should  be  of  the  best  quality,  especially  the  books. 
It  is  poor  economy  to  buy  cheap  books.  Do  not  have 
too  much  on  your  bill-heads.  A  few  prominent 
words  describing  your  business  will  do  you  vastly 
more  service  than  half  a  page  of  closely  printed  mat- 
ter. If  you  have  an  important  agency,  or  are  hand- 
ling an  article  in  large  quantities,  it  is  well  to  men- 
tion it,  but  as  a  general  thing  men  say  too  much  more 
frequently  than  they  sin  on  the  other  side.  What  is 
the  use  of  a  boot  and  shoe  dealer  saying  " Deali  T  in 
Boots  and  Shoes/  Men's  ETeavy  Wear/  Ladies' Fine 
Goods,  Slippers,  etc.''''  The  words  "  Boots  and  Shoes" 
include  the  rest.     Hardware  men  will  follow  the  word 


ItiS  ON   THE    EOAD    TO    EICHES. 

"Hardware''  with  "Nails,  Glass, Sash,  Farming  Im- 
plements, etc.,"  just  as  if  a  man  would  not  naturally 
go  to  such  a  store  for  nails,  glass,  etc.  The  two  lead- 
ing lines  are  your  name  and  your  business.  Every- 
thing you  can  do  to  make  them  familiar  to  men,  in 
connection  with  each  other,  is  a  gain  to  your  bank 
account. 

These  same  rules  apply  to  your  business  cards. 
The  time  was  when  a  card  was  a  catalogue  of  what 
the  party  had  to  sell,  but  now  a  card  is  merely  an  in- 
troduction of  the  party  who  presents  it;  he  is  expected 
to  be  able  to  tell  his  own  story.  If  you  go  into  a 
store  you  hand  out  your  card  that  the  man  may  know 
your  name,  your  business,  and  your  place  of  business. 
Notice  how  much  more  effective  the  one  of  these 
cards  is  than  the  other. 

And  I  believe  it  pays  to  get  up  a  nice  card,  one  that 
will  not  be  thrown  into  the  basket  the  moment  it  has 
been  read.  I  know  of  nothing  in  which  so  much 
advancement  has  been  made  of  late  years  as  in  printers' 
work.  A  master  of  his  craft  will  turn  out  a  very 
pretty  piece  of  work  if  left  to  follow  out  his  own  ideas, 
after  he  has  learned  what  it  is  you  need.  If  you  are 
getting  your  work  of  such  a  man,  give  him  some  lee- 
way with  your  order;  do  not  have  it  flowery,  and  do 
not  crowd  it  with  matter. 


ARRANGING   STOCK,  INSURANCE,  ETC.  109 


0.  LONG.  B.  SHORT 

LONG  &  SHORT, 

WHOLESALE  DEALERS  IX 

NOTIONS 

112  l^aixs.  S-fcree-b, 

TOLEDO.  O 


LONG  &  SHORT, 


WHOLESALE   DEALERS   IN 


NOTIONS  &  FANCY  GOODS. 

NEEDLES,  THREAD,  BUTTON'S,  HOSIERY, 
Underwear,  Corsets,  Soaps,  Combs,  Razors,  Shears,  Pens,  Pencils. 

ORDERS  PROMPTLY  FILLED. 
112  Main  St.  TOLEDO,  O. 


Printed  letter- heads  ought  also  to  be  as  plain  as  cards 
and  bill-heads.  If  you  are  writing  to  a  stranger,  the 
card  at  the  head  of  your  letter  gives  him  your  busi- 
ness and  location,  and  that  is  enouirh. 

Printed  receipts  are  a  labor-saving  convenience, 
but  I  prefer  the  letter  form  rather  than  the  plain 
blank  receipt.     I  like  a  blank  of  this  form: 


170  ON   THE   KOAD   TO    EICilES. 


hammer  &  tongs, 
Wholesale    Hardware, 

1108  SUMMIT  STREET, 

Toledo,  Ohio, _  1 8  7 

M. _ 

Dear  Sir: — We  are   in   receipt  of   your 

favor  of  the ,   covering  % 

and  have  placed  the  same  to  your  credit, 


With  thanks  for  the  remittance,  and  soliciting  a 
continuance  of  your  orders,  which  shall  always  have 
our  prompt  attention,  we  are 

Yours  Respectfully,  etc. 

HAMMER  &  TONGS. 


I  believe  in  using  printer's  ink  much  more  than 
merchants  are  doing.  A  printed  "form''  for  order- 
ing goods,  another  for  making  remittances,  another 
for  dunning,  another  to  accompany  drafts  for  collec- 
tion, and  another  to  parties  who  have  been  drawn  on, 
will  save  two  or  three  hours  out  of  every  day,  and 
especially  during  the  days  when  you  are  "  going 
through  the  books." 


ADVERTISING.  171 


CHAPTER    XXYI. 

ADVERTISING. 

In  a  little  book  published  many  years  ngo,  entitled 
"  How  to  get  Money,"  I  find  the  following  remarks  on 
advertising  :  "Whatever  your  occupation  or  calling 
may  be,  if  it  needs  supporl  from  the  public,  adverti.se 
it  thoroughly  and  efficiently  in  some  shape  or  other 
that  will  arrest  public  attention..  There  may  possibly 
be  occupations  that  do  not  require  advertising;  but  I 
cannot  well  conceive  what  they  are.  Men  in  business 
will  sometimes  tell  you  they  have  tried  advertising, 
and  that  it  did  not  pay.  This  is  only  when  advertis- 
ing is  done  sparingly  and  grudgingly.  Homoeopathic 
doses  of  advertising  will  not  pay,  perhaps;  it  is  like 
half  a  portion  of  physic  making  the  patient  sick,  but 
effecting  nothing.  Administer  liberally,  and  the  cure 
will  be  permanent.  Some  say  they  cannot  afford  to 
advertise.  They  mistake;  they  cannot  afford  not  to 
advertise." 

If  that  was  true  forty  years  ago,  it  is  still  more  forci- 
bly true  to-day.  Ihisiness  has  thrown  off  many  of  the 
forms  that  hampered  men  engaged  in  it.  Retailers  no 
longer  tie  their  trade  to  one  house,  nor  expect  to  be 
personally  acquainted  with  each  one  of  their  customers. 
People  buy  of  the  party  who  offer  the  best  bargains, 


172  ON    THE    EOAD   TO   EICHES. 

be  he  friend  or  stranger.  Although  the  young  firm  of 
Sharp  &  Beatem  are  selling  goods  very  low,  it  is  not 
known  around  the  town,  and  they  have  no  trade.  Slow 
&  Steady  have  a  good  stock,  are  well  known,  and  claim 
to  sell  as  cheap  as  the  cheapest.  Sharp  &  Beatem 
must  do  something  to  inform  the  public  that  they 
have  a  better  stock  of  goods  and  are  selling  cheaper 
than  Slow  &  Steady;    they  must  advertise. 

To-morrow  it  will  be  heralded  about  the  city  that 
Sharp  &  Beatem  are  selling  goods  cheaper  than  any  firm 
in  the  city.  People  will  wonder  if  it  is  true;  they  will 
call  '"just  to  price  things,"  buy  much  or  little,  and  go 
their  way.  Slow  &  Steady  notice  that  a  great  deal  of 
their  old  trade  is  going  across  the  way;  what  shall  they 
do  to  regain  it?  They  conclude  they  must  advertise  ; 
and  in  his  way  advertising  is  an  absolute  necessity.  To 
gain  customers  we  must  advertise;  we  must  advertise  to 
keep  them.  We  must  create  a  demand  for  new  goods 
by  advertising  their  merits;  we  must  hold  the  sale  of 
old  goods  by  keeping  their  good  qualities  before  the 
public. 

Every  business  should  be  advertised,  no  matter 
where  or  what  it  is.  If  a  moderate  custom  was 
sure  among  a  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances 
in  a  given  locality,  it  would  still  be  to  the  merchant's 
interest  to  advertise  and  increase  his  trade.  The  main 
expenses  of  doing  business  will  be  about  so  much,  be 
the  amount  transacted  greater  or  less.  A  large  busi- 
ness can  be  done  at  a  much  less  percentage  of  cost  than 
a  small  one.  A  man  can  better  afford  to  sell  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods  at  a  profit  of 


ADVERTISING.  J  i  o 

ten  per  cent.,  than  fifty  thousand  at  fifteen  per  cent. 
A  merchant  may  expect  to  hold  trade  by  selling  low, 
but  he  must  have  first  made  it  known  in  some  way 
that  lie  is  ready  to  sell  low,  or  he  will  not  get  the 
customers. 

"Ways  of  advertising  are  as  numerous  as  the  busy 
brain  of  man  can  invent.  The  first  step  usually  taken 
by  either  a  wholesaler  or  retailer  is  to  have  a  circular 
struck  off  announcing  that  the  "undersigned"  has 
opened  a  large  stock,  etc.,  promising  to  sell  cheap,  and 
soliciting  a  trial.  A  boy  carries  these  about  the  city, 
or  Uncle  Sam  whisks  them  about  the  country,  and  half 
the  dealers  sit  down  as  if  they  had  nothing  more  to  do 
but  wait  for  the  rush  of  customers  that  their  circulars 
will  send  them.  But  seven-eighths  of  the  city  people 
never  look  at  the  circulars;  they  have  been  bored  too 
much  already  by  hand-bills  and  kindred  nuisances. 
Consequently  they  are  still  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the 
new  store.  The  other  eighth  resolve  that  thev  will  aro 
and  see  stock  and  prices  when  next  they  are  shopping, 
but  probably  ninety  per  cent,  of  them  forget  the  firm 
and  the  store  before  a  day  has  passed  over  them. 

The  country  merchant  opens  the  circular,  wonders 
what  kind  of  men  they  are  who  compose  the  firm; 
whether  they  really  will  sell  cheaper  than  the  old 
houses  or  not,  thinks  it  very  doubtful,  throws  the  circu- 
lar under  the  counter,  and  sends  his  order  to  the  old  firm. 

But  I  do  not  say  that  circulars  and  hand-bills  are  not 
of  some  value.  They  perform  a  work  of  their  own  till 
a  place  in  advertising;  only  they  are  of  little  value  if 
they  are  not  followed  up  by  something  else. 


171  ON   THE    EOAD    TO    RICHES. 

Posters  on  the  wall  arc  good,  but  they  are  there  only 
a  few  days,  and  then  they  are  covered  by  anothei 
advertiser.  Si^ns  nailed  to  trees  alonfj  the  coun- 
try  roads  are  effectual  while  they  last,  but  they  soon 
become  old,  or  are  rendered  of  no  value  by  a  dozen 
others  being  nailed  over  and  under  them. 

The  most  unmitigated  humbugs  in  soliciting  adver- 
tisements are  the  men  who  have  "  hotel  cards,"  "  depot 
cards,"  "business  cards,"  "maps,"  and  similar  abom- 
inations. Men  will  invest  in  these  wild-cat  enterprises 
who  think  an  advertisement  in  the  daily  or  weekly 
paper  is  so  much  money  thrown  away! 

Of  course  money  can  be  wasted  upon  advertisements 
as  upon  everything  else.  It  would  be  folly  for  a  hard- 
ware merchant  to  advertise  his  wares  in  a  paper  espe- 
cially devoted  to  the  druggists'  trade,  or  the  reverse. 
A  man  who  depends  upon  local  traffic  should  patronize 
the  local  papers.  If  he  wants  to  reach  a  special  class 
he  should  select  the  medium  patronized  by  that  class. 

"What  to  advertise  is  a  question  easier  answered  by 
the  retailer  than  the  wholesaler.  The  retailer  adver- 
tises his  stock  according  to  the  season.  Everything  he 
has  is  more  or  less  needed,  and  he  cannot  miss  by 
"  making  a  run "  on  anything.  But  the  wholesale 
dealer  is  confined  to  closer  quarters.  It  will  not  attract 
customers  for  the  wholesale  dry  goods  dealer  to  adver- 
tise that  he  has  a  large  stock  of  muslins,  because  every 
other  dealer  is  supposed  to  keep  a  large  stock  of  these 
goods  too.  If  he  has  special  advantages  in  buying 
muslins,  and  can  offer  special  inducements  to  retailers, 
i  it  will  pay  him  to  advertise  the  fact.     But  why  the 


ADVKUTISIXC. 


1 


wholesaler  should  advertise  is  for  the  same  r  sason  that 
the  retailer  needs  to  advertise — to  make  buyers  familiar 
with  his  name  and  location. 

Every  traveling  man  knows  the  chill  that  comes 
over  him  when  he  is  met  with  the  announcement: 
"I  never  heard  of  your  house  before;"  while  the 
contrary  remark:  "I  have  often  heard  of  your 
house,"  opens  the  way  for  trade.  .V  wholesaler  who 
is  handling  a  regular  line  of  goods,  and  has  no  special- 
ties, should  make  liberal  use  of  circulars;  not  bo 
much  to  quote  prices,  unless  he  can  quote  especially 
lowfignres,  as  to  constantly  keep  himself  before  the 
trade.  The  country  merchant  pays  but  little  atten- 
tion to  the  circular  I  may  send  him,  it  is  true;  con- 
stantly bringing  my  name  before  him  is  an  advan- 
tage, makes  him  familiar  with  my  location,  and  in 
the  end  may  induce  him  to  come  in  and  look  at  my 
stock,  and  in  this  way  I  am  well  repaid. 

Getting  up  a  circular  is  not  the  easiest  thing  to  do, 
and  do  well.  It  should  be  neat  and  small,  differing  in 
some  way  from  the  general  run  of  circulars,  and  should 
not  attempt  to  say  too  much.  If  I  were  in  the  boot  and 
shoe  business  I  would  get  up  something  like  this: 

Dear  Sir: — In  making  your  purchases  for  spring  stock,  will 
you  kindly  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  carrying  the  1  k  of 

boots  and  shoes  to  be  found  in  the  West;  and  that  we  have  been 
able  to  purchase  our  stock  at  figures  that  will  unable  us  to  compete 
with  the  largest  Eastern  jobbers  or  manufacturers?  We  intend  to 
give  our  customers  goods  at  low  prie  s,  and  will  be  glad  to  Bhow 
you  our  stock  and  give  you  figures. 

Any  orders  you  may  favor  us  with  will  be  promptly  and  carefully 
attended  to.  Very  respectfully  yours, 

1 1  \vi  1:1;   &   Co., 
1188  Main  street,  Toledo,  0. 


176  ON   TIIE    ROAD   TO    KICIIES. 

The  objection  to  circulars  is  that  they  are  sent  in 
open  envelopes,  and  the  receiver  knows  it  to  be  a  cir- 
cular before  he  opens  it,  and  many  times  they  are 
thrown  into  the  waste-basket  unopened.  To  overcome 
this,  or  rather  to  get  the  information  before  the  trade, 
there  is  nothing  so  valuable  as  a  "  reading-matter " 
notice  in  the  newspaper.  During  one  season  that  I 
gave  to  enquiring  about  advertising  among  my  cus- 
tomers, and  to  watching  for  evidence  of  their  having 
read  circulars,  etc.,  I  found  that  a  marked  article  in 
the  newspaper  was  never  passed  over. 

The  proper  way,  and  the  best,  is  to  have  an  appreci- 
ative notice  written  of  the  house,  embodying  the  facts 
you  would  naturally  have  put  in  a  circular,  only  to 
have  it  dressed  up  as  a  local.  There  is  nothing  equal 
to  this  in  value.  A  paper  is  always  opened  and  read, 
while  four  out  of  five  circulars  are  destroyed  unopened. 

A  retailer  should  advertise  in  every  legitimate  way. 
If  by  circulars,  they  should  contain  but  a  very  few 
lines,  and  ought  to  have  something  about  them  to  attract 
the  reader.  But  the  retailer  should  invest  ninety-nine 
dollars  in  the  columns  of  his  local  paper  to  every  one 
that  he  expends  for  circulars,  hand-bills  or  cards.  His 
name  should  be  constantly  before  the  buying  public. 
But  a  small  card  of  half  a  dozen  lines,  paid  for  by  the 
year  and  never  changed,  is  of  doubtful  value. 

Writing  an  advertisement  is  not  the  easy  matter 
it  appears  to  be  at  first  sight.  On  the  contrary,  to 
write  an  advertisement  that  will  be  read,  is  an  art 
possessed  by  very  few.  It  is  with  this  as  it  is  with 
letter-writing;  some  of  the  easiest  and  simplest  talk- 


ADVERTISING. 


17 


ers  will  sit  down  and  write  a  pompous,  stilted  letter. 
The  fact  that  they  are  letter-writing  seems  to  throw 
them  out  of  their  own  natural    character  into  what 

they  think  they  ought  to  be.  So  in  writing  an  adver- 
tisement; instead  of  sending  out  a  concise  statement 
of  what  they  have  to  say,  they  go  at  it  as  if  they  were 
to  be  delivered  of  a  legal  document.  Men  too  forget 
what  it  is  the  public  are  interested  in;  for  instance, 
our  friend  Blank  feels  that  he  must  get  out  a  card, 
and  he  writes  as  follows: 

"James  Blank  begs  to  announce  to  the  citizens  of  Toledo  and 
vicinity  that  he  has  just  returned  from  New  York,  where  he  has 
made  large  purchases  of  Crockery  and  Glassware,  which  he  is 
prepared  to  sell  at  astonishingly  low  prices.  Call  and  see  me,  at 
b88  Main  street,  Toledo,  Ohio." 

So  far  so  good.  The  next  thing  is  how  to  display 
it.  He  imagines  that  the  words  that  ought  to  attract 
the  most  attention  are  "  James  Blank,"  "  Returned 
from  New  York,"  "  Call  and  see  me."  So  he  arranges 
his  advertisement  acccordingly,  and  it  looks  like  this: 


JAMES  BLANK. 

Begs  to  announce  to  the  citizens  of 

Toledo  and  vicinity,  that 

he  has  just 

RETURNED     FROM    NEW 
YORK, 

Where  he  has  made  large  purchases 
of 

Crockery  and  Glassware, 

Which  ho  is  prepared  to  sell  at  aston- 
ishingly low  prices. 

CALL  AND  SEE  ME, 
At  8SS  Main  Street,  Toledo,  Ohio. 


12 


178  OX    THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

If  the  citizens  of  Toledo  had  all  been  lying  awake 
nights  because  of  Blank's  absence,  this  might  be  a 
good  way  to  display  his  notice,  but  the  sad  truth  is 
not  more  than  a  dozen  people  knew  he  was  out  of  town, 
or  for  that  matter  cared  whether  he  was  in  New  York 
or  in  Halifax. 

Blank  carries  his  card  to  the  publisher's  office,  bar- 
gains for  three  squares  "  till  forbid,"  and  goes  back  to 
his  store  happy  in  the  belief  that  it  will  be  crowded 
to-morrow.  The  publisher  could  have  bettered  the 
card,  but  hesitates  about  changing  it,  so  it  appears  as 
Blank  had  marked  it.  The  paper  comes  out  and  in 
Blank's  mind  his  card  stands  out  plainer  than  every- 
thing else.  He  is  a  little  surprised  that  people  do  not 
speak  to  him  about  it  as  he  goes  home.  The  next 
clay  comes  but  not  the  crowd,  and  so  on  with  the  next 
and  the  next,  till  a  week  is  over.  Blank  in  a  fit  of 
disgust,  calls  at  the  office  and  orders  the  advertisement 
out,  and  remarks  savagely,  "  It  is  just  so  much  money 
thrown  away." 

But  the  publisher  is  disposed  to  argne  the  matter 
with  him,  and  finally  says:  "Mr.  Blank,  let  me 
arrange  your  advertisement  a  little  differently  as  to 
display,  using  different  style  of  type,  and  allowing 
little  more  space  for  it,  that  will  help  wonderfully,  as 
you  will  see,  and  keep  it  in  the  paper  a  week  longer  ; 
if  you  think  it  does  not  pay,  I  will  make  no  charge 
for  it."     "  That's  fair,"  says  Blank,  "  go  ahead." 

The  next  day  the  advertisement  appears  as  follows  : 


Al'YKETISING. 


179 


JAMES  BLANK, 

Has  just  received  a  new  and  fresh  assortment 
of 

CROCKERY  &  GLASSWARE 


Which  he  is  selling 

AT    ASTONISHINGLY    LOW 
PRICES. 

Call   and    examine  before   purchasing 
elsewhere. 

888  Main  St.,      TOLEDO,  O. 


The  four  prominent  lines  answer  all  the  questions 
a  probable  purchaser  of  crockery  would  ask.  The 
main  line,  "  Crockery  and  Glassware,"  catches  the  eye; 
he  needs  something  in  this  line;  what  else  have  they 
to  say  ?  The  next  line  he  sees  is  "at  astonishing  low 
prices."  Of  course  he  wants  to  buy  where  they  are 
Belling  cheap;  who  is  it  ?  The  advertisement  tells  the 
rest.  He  and  a  dozen  others  call  on  Blank  next  day, 
and  when  I-.  sees  the  publisher  he  says:  "  Send  me 
your  bill;  I  can  afford  to  pay  it." 

In  a  pamphlet  devoted  bo  advertising  and  advertise- 
ments, I  find  the  following  sensible  rule:  "There  is 
one  rule  which  has  been  found  a  good  one  by  which  to 
write  an  advertisement.     It  is  first  to  write  out,  no 


180  ON   TIIE   KOAD   TO   KICIIES. 

matter  at  what  length,  all  that  is  worth  while  to  say; 
next  examine  it  critically,  and  experiment  upon  it 
carefully,  with  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  how  many 
words  can  be  stricken  out  without  injuring  the  sense. 
It  is  rare  to  see  a  six-line  advertisement  which  could 
not  be  expressed  in  five  lines.  An  advertisement 
should  not  be  flowery — nothing  need  be  said  for  orna- 
ment. It  should  be  plain  and  honest.  It  should 
claim  nothing  which  is  not  strictly  true,  but  should  be 
sure  to  claim  as  much  as  is  true." 

To  advertise  something  one  has  not  got  is  a  mere 
waste  of  money,  and  the  wonder  is  that  men  do  it;  yet 
the  habit  of  exaggerating  is  so  common  that  very  few 
of  us  believe  all  an  advertisement  says.  But  this  habit 
can  be  carried  to  a  point  where  positive  damage  will 
result.  It  was  only  this  morning  one  of  my  family 
was  complaining  for  having  a  walk  for  nothing;  a 
prominent  dry  goods  house  advertised,  "  an  invoice  of 
Hamburg  edgings  just  received;  call  and  seethe  new 
patterns."  "When  she  reached  the  store  she  found  this 
was  all  a  falsehood;  no  new  goods  had  been  received. 
It  is  possible  a  great  many  others  went  there  and  be- 
lieved that  the  old  stock  had  just  come  in  and  were  as 
well  satisfied,  but  I  doubt  the  wisdom  of  employing 
falsehood  to  attract  trade. 

Then  there  is  the  reckless  advertiser,  who  claims 
a  deal  more  for  his  goods  than  they  will  bear;  people 
purchase  on  his  representation,  and  finding  themselves 
deceived,  put  him  down  as  a  good  merchant  to  avoid. 
Here  is  a  man  advertises  "  a  set  of  plated  tea  spoons 
worth  $2,  for  75  cents."     No  person  of  experience 


ADVERTISING.  181 

ought  to  be  caught  by  such  a  bait,  but  you  may  be 
sure  it  will  have  a  run  for  a  short  time,  and  if  those 
who  are  bitten  are  like  the  old  lady  I  heard  mention 
the  matter,  the  dealers  trade  will  not  have  been  much 
bettered  by  his  sales.  "  I  might  as  well  have  thrown 
my  money  into  the  street,"  she  said;  "  I  want  no  more 
to  do  with  him." 

An  advertiser  should  use  only  such  newspapers  as 
are  circulated  in  the  localities  from  which  he  can  hope 
to  derive  trade.  The  retailer  should  patronize  his 
local  papers;  the  jobber  his  local  papers  and  the  trade 
journals  devoted  to  his  branch  of  trade,  providing  he 
knows  them  to  have  a  general  circulation  among  his 
hoped-for  customers;  the  manufacturer  or  inventor 
who  wants  to  create  a  demand  for  his  goods,  should 
advertise  everywhere.  Men  are  generally  penny-wise 
and  pound-foolish  in  their  advertising  patronage.  An 
advertisement  will  not  do  everything,'  it  will  not  have 
more  life  than  is  put  into  it;  there  are  mummies  two 
thousand  years  old  who  are  livelier  to-day  than  some 
of  the  paid  notices  in  the  papers,  and  the  men  who 
write  and  pay  for  these  notices  are  among  those  who 
will  tell  you  advertising  does  not  pay.  An  advertise- 
ment will  not  help  you  if  you  do  not  keep  a  stock  of 
the  goods  you  advertise;  it  will  not  bring  people  back 
to  your  store  if  you  do  not  do  all  that  it  claims  yon 
will  do;  but  if  you  are  honestly  doing  what  you 
agree  to  do,  it  will  work  for  you  morning,  noon  and 
night — following  people  through  work-shops  and 
offices  and  to  their  homes,  persistently  trying  to  do 
you  good.     Put  it  down  among  the  axioms  that  judi- 


182  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    EICIIES. 

cious  advertising  always  pays,  and  live  advertising  in 
your  local  daily  and  weekly  papers  is  always  judicious 
advertising. 


SELLING    GOODS.  183 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 


SELLING    GOODS. 


The  first  question  every  business  man  must  decide 
for  himself  is:  Shall  I  work  to  the  utmost  limits  of 
my  strength  for  a  few  years,  and  then  retire;  or  shall  I 
settle  down  to  business  as  a  life's  work,  being  satisfied 
with  accumulating  slowly  but  surely,  enough  for  my 
family's  comfort  and  support  when  I  must  retire  from 
active  work?  If  the  decision  is  to  see  how  quickly  a 
fortune  can  be  made  the  dealer  must  expect  to  do  fif- 
teen years'  work  in  five;  must  push  his  trade  by  e\iTy 
means  known,  and  must  squeeze  out  of  every  article 
the  very  last  cent  of  profit  that  it  will  possibly  stand. 
His  energy  will  bring  him  trade;  his  tact  will  enable 
him  to  see  just  how  much  profit  each  customer  will 
pay,  and  come  back  again;  and  when  lie  has  become 
known  as  a  man  who  charges  the  very  highest  juice-, 
he  is  ready  to  retire  from  business. 

But  the  men  who  can  accomplish  this  undertaking 
successfully  are  few  and  far  between.  They  are  men 
who  would  succeed  in  any  enterprise  upon  which 
they  entered — the  men  whom  we  are  apt  to  call 
"lucky,"  but  whose  "luck"  consists  in  the  possession 
of  an  active  brain,  a  smooth  tongue,  and  the  ability 
to  be  "all  things  to  all  men." 


1S4  ON   THE   KOAD    TO   RICHES. 

But  because  some  men  are  so  brilliantly  successful, 
let  us  not  imagine  that  we  can  go  and  do  likewise.  I 
believe  the  tortoise  beat  the  hare  in  the  long  race, 
though  to  be  sure  he  could  not  have  been  a  very  smart 
hare.  A  business  man  should  arrange  his  business 
with  the  understanding  that  it  is  to  be  his  life-work; 
trying  to  establish  it  so  firmly  in  his  younger  years 
that  it  will  almost  run  itself  when  he  shall  want  to 
shift  some  of  the  burden.  And  no  business  can  be 
established  on  a  lasting  basis  unless  the  motto  is: 
"  Goods  at  market  prices."  To  a  new  beginner  the 
question  of  profit  is  a  very  perplexing  one.  Often- 
times a  man  who  has  been  working  on  a  salary  thinks 
he  is  making  a  great  deal  of  money  for  his  employers 
when  he  sells  staples  at  cost  and  other  goods  at  a  profit 
of  ten  per  cent.  Perhaps  he  is,  and  perhaps  he  is  not. 
If  the  bills  are  very  large  ones,  ten  per  cent,  may  be  a 
good  profit,  but  in  the  average  wholesale  store  it  costs 
ten  per  cent,  to  do  business.  A  wholesale  hardware 
store  doing  a  business  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
per  annum  must  pay  a  rent  of  $2,000;  three  traveling 
men  and  their  expenses,  $5,000;  book-keeper,  stock- 
man, entry-clerk,  porter,  and  house-salesman,  $3,500; 
and  insurance,  postage,  taxes,  stationery,  going  to  New 
York,  fuel,  gas,  etc.,  $1,500  more,  making  $12,000  the 
cost  of  doing  business;  or  six  per  cent  on  the  sales, 
which  would  be  over  six  and  one-half  per  cent,  on  the 
cost  of  the  goods  to  the  wholesaler.  Then  there  are 
bad  debts,  which  will  run  about  one  per  cent,  more, 
and  the  ten  per  cent,  is  pretty  well  used  up. 

But  salesmen  do  not  figure  as  deeply  as  one  might 


SELLTNG    GOODS.  185 

think  they  would,  and  when  they  go  into  business  for 
themselves  they  have  to  throw  away  a  year  or  two 
getting  wisdom.  That/was  a  shrewder  man  who  always 
claimed  to  sell  goods  for  five  per  cent,  profit.  At  last 
one  of  his  friends  said  to  him  that  he  could  not  see 
how  he  was  able  to  live  on  so  small  ;i  per  cent.  "  I 
don't  know  much  about  your  '  per  cent.,' "  said  the 
merchant;  "but  what  costs  me  one  dollar  I  sell  for 
five,  and  that  is  all  the  per  cent.  I  want." 

A  dealer  should  undertake  to  keep  himself  well 
posted  as  to  his  competiors'  prices,  and  should  so  man- 
age that  his  own  will  average  as  low,  if  not  a  little 
lower.  But  no  merchant  ever  grew  rich  or  prosper- 
ous by  cutting  under  competitors.  Ko  one  house  can 
control  the  trade  of  any  given  section  of  country. 
"  Cutting  "  may  enable  me  to  sell  a  bill  to-day,  but  a 
customer  made  in  this  way  is  apt  to  be  lost  just  as 
easily.  If  A  is  ahead  of  me  and  sold  goods  at  regu- 
lar prices,  and  I  quote  at  a  less  price,  A  at  once  meets 
my  prices;  ten  chances  to  one  I  have  not  benefited 
myself,  but  may  have  broken  down  prices  where  I 
would  rather  have  had  them  firm. 

Have  your  samples  arranged  so  that  each  article 
will  show  to  advantage,  and  so  you  can  tell  at  a  glance 
what  it  cost.  I  am  confident  that  ir  pays  a  man  to 
have  the  cost  of  goods  so  firmly  fixed  in  his  memory 
that  he  will  not  need  to  refer  to  the  marks.  We  all 
prefer  to  trade  with  a  man  who  is  thoroughly  posted; 
and  when  we  see  a  clerk  searching  after  marks,  we 
are  apt  to  think  that  selling  is  not  his  business,  and 
to  fear  that  he  may  ask  us  more  than  one  of  the  regu- 
lar salesmen  would. 


186  OX    TIIE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

We  will  suppose  that  you  are  ready  for  customers, 
and  looking  anxiously  for  tliem.  Your  stock  is  in 
perfect  order,  the  assortment  complete,  and  bought  at 
the  lowest  prices.  You  have  issued  your  circulars  to 
the  country  trade,  had  your  city  newspapers  write  up 
your  undertaking,  and  mailed  copies  of  these  to  the 
retailers,  and  now  you  are  eager  to  show  your  goods 
and  make  a  sale.  As  business  is  conducted  now-a-days, 
however,  you  must  look  up  customers,  and  not  wait 
for  them  to  look  you  up. 

In  some  of  the  older  houses  you  have  friends  among 
the  salesmen,  and  you  saunter  in  to  find  a  country 
merchant  buying  some  goods.  You  are  introduced  to 
him,  and  when  he  is  through  at  this  place  invite  him 
to  accompany  you  to  your  store.  He  will  probably 
assure  you  that  he  does  not  intend  to  buy,  and  you 
will  give  him  to  understand  that  he  is  at  perfect  lib- 
erty to  buy  or  not,  as  he  may  choose.  If  he  does  not 
think  he  can  have  some  advantage  by  it,  he  will  not 
care  to  change  his  trade  from  his  old  house  to  you. 
There  are  two  arguments  that  aifect  men:  that  you 
will  sell  them  for  less,  or  that  you  will  sell  them  as  low 
and  treat  them  better  than  their  present  house.  The 
last  argument  is  the  best  one.  Customers  gained  in 
this  way  remain  with  you  for  years. 

A  pleasant  cordiality,  a  generous  interest  in  your 
customer's  welfare,  a  readiness  to  be  of  service  to  him 
in  matters  outside  of  your  business,  will  win  his  friend- 
ship, and  with  his  friendship  his  trade.  Some  of  the 
pleasantest  of  my  friends  at  this  day  are  men  of  whom 
I  bought  goods,  and  men  to  whom  I  sold  goods.     The 


BELLING   GOODS.  1  v7 

dealer  for  whom  I  felt  a  personal  friendship  naturally 
had  the  preference  over  all  his  competitors. 

Suppose  you  ask  your  customer  to  take  a  seat  a 
moment,  and  that  you  then  give  him  an  insight  into 
your  institution,  and  the  manner  you  propose  doing 
business;  that  you  intend  to  personally  watch  over 
your  trade;  do  what  is  right  in  the  way  of  quality  and 
price;  ship  promptly  and  pack  carefully;  and  that 
while  you  expect  to  have  you  bills  paid  promptly  when 
they  are  due,  you  intend  to  treat  your  customers  in 
money  matters  as  you  want  your  creditors  to  treat  you. 
It  is  not  a  difficult  matter  to  win  the  good  wishes  of  a 
customer  if  you  but  treat  him  sincerely.  But  if  you 
have  a  story  made  that  you  expect  "  to  do  the  business 
with  the  country  dealer,"  }'ou  had  better  not  attempt 
to  say  it.  The  man  who  believes  that  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  world  is  confined  to  city  dealers  is  a  fool.  The 
men  who  succeed  best  are  they  who  respect  the  man- 
hood of  every  man  they  meet. 

Do  not  have  too  many  prices,  and  especially  to  the 
same  customer.  A  few  judicious  questions  will  enable 
you  to  gauge  him,  and  to  learn  the  prices  he  has  been 
paying,  and  you  should  carry  that  information  in  your 
memory,  to  be  used  whenever  you  see  him,  or  have  an 
order  from  him.  "With  some  men  it  is  absolute  ly 
necessary,  in  order  to  hold  them,  that  you  "fall  "  a 
little  on  the  prices  first  quoted  them.  "With  others 
your  willingness  to  cut  under  your  own  price  will 
drive  them  away. 

You  should  use  every  effort  to  increase  your  house 
trade  and  mail   orders.     You  do  not  have  to  send   a 


1SS  ON   THE   KOAD   TO    RICIIES. 

man  at  heavy  expense  for  such  trade,  and  you  have  a 
better  understanding  of  your  customers,  what  to  charge 
and  how  to  write  them. 

Never  be  afraid  to  ask  a  man  for  references  when 
you  have  no  other  way  of  finding  out  his  financial 
standing,  though  you  can  generally  learn  his  condition 
by  enquiring  among  your  brother  merchants,  and 
referring:  to  the  mercantile  agencies.  Be  careful  about 
shipping  directions,  and  be  particular  to  get  his  name, 
or  his  firm  name,  down  correctly. 

Never  refuse  to  "  break  packages,"  unless  you  are 
sure  that  the  man's  trade  will  never  reach  a  point  where 
it  will  pay  you  for  humoring  it  now.  The  best  cus- 
tomers are  not  always  the  ones  who  buy  the  largest 
bills.  The  men  who  purchase  but  a  few  goods  in  your 
line  do  not  scrutinize  prices  very  closely,  and  do  not 
run  around  from  one  dealer  to  another. 

Encourage  your  customers  to  use  your  office  as  if  it 
was  their  own;  have  them  feel  at  home  in  your  store; 
introduce  them  to  your  clerks;  each  point  will  be  one 
that  will  draw  them  more  surely  to  you  when  they 
come  to  town  again. 

The  retailer  when  ready  for  trade  must  open  with 
the  best  display  of  his  wares  that  he  can  make;  he 
must  entice  people  to  enter.  I  have  seen  groceries 
arranged  about  the  doors  and  windows  of  a  store  so 
that  it  required  a  decided  effort  to  go  by  without  pur- 
chasing. And  I  have  seen  dry  goods  stores  that  no 
female  of  my  family  would  pass  by.  People's  wants 
generally  run  ahead  of  their  means,  and  a  tempting 
display  of  choice  goods  appeals  to  them  so  that  the 
average  man  cannot  resist. 


SELLING   GOODS.  189 

Everything  about  the  store  should  be  nicely  labeL  d, 
and  tasteful  card-  calling  attention  to  quality  or  price 
do  a  deal  of  good.  You  can  readily  learn  to  do  this 
work,  and  you  will  be  surprised  at  the  result  in 
increased  sales.  Signs  to  be  effective  should  be  made 
in  different  styles  of  letters,  and  different  colored  ink 
used.  For  common  work  the  best  quality  of  ball 
blue  is  one  of  the  cheapest  and  most  economical 
things  you  can  use;  powdered  and  mixed  with  a  little 
water  to  the  consistency  of  cream  it  can  be  used  on 
■white  or  brown  Manila  paper  with  great  effect. 
Liquid  bluing  can  be  used,  but  owing  to  its  free  flowing 
is  not  so  desirable,  nor  does  it  give  as  pretty  a  shade 
as  the  ball  blue.  For  black,  use  India  ink,  which  may 
be  procured  in  solid  cakes  or  liquid.  The  solid  cakes 
should  be  rubbed  into  a  little  water  in  a  pan  or  plate 
until  the  mixture  is  about  twice  the  thickness  of 
ordinary  ink.  The  liquid  ink  is  sold  ready  for  use  in 
small  bottles,  but  sometimes  will  bear  slightly  thin- 
ning with  water.  The  cost  of  cakes  will  vary  from 
about  25  cents  upwards,  according  to  size.  For  a  red 
letter  get  some  carmine  or  vermillion  at  the  druggist's, 
or  any  other  dry  colors  you  may  desire  that  will 
readily  mix  with  water.  A  ten-cent  brush  is  the  only 
implement  needed,  taking  care  to  cleanse  it  thoroughly 
after  using.  The  paste  colors  used  in  branding  flour 
barrels  can  be  had  in  many  shades,  are  cheap  and 
easily  used  with  brush  and  water. 

Constantly  changing  your  stock  about  has  a  good 
effect;  to  all  appearances  it  is  a  new  store  every  time 
it  is  changed;  your  customers  do  not  know  but  that 


100  ON    THE    EOAD   TO    RICHES. 

the  old  stock  was  sold  and  this  is  all  new;  the  infer- 
ence is  that  you  are  doing  a  rushing  business,  and  that 
is  the  kind  of  merchant  they  want  to  trade  with. 
There  are  plenty  of  dull  spells  when  the  clerks  can  do 
this  work;  bring  forward  old  or  shelf- worn  goods,  put 
them  up  as  attractive  as  you  can,  with  a  fancy  sign 
near  them,  and  make  it  a  point  to  work  them  off  just  as 
fast  as  possible.  They  will  never  grow  more  salable  and 
never  bring  more  money  ;  the  first  loss  is  always  best. 
You  will  never  get  rich  selling  muslin  or  sugar; 
make  a  good  display  of  these  goods,  for  people  will 
buy  them,  but  do  not  forget  to  have  the  more  profit- 
able goods  out  where  they  will  tempt  the  buyer.  Re- 
member it  is  always  easier  to  follow  the  public  taste 
than  it  is  to  lead,  but  we  all  crave  something  new,  and 
as  a  general  thing  new  goods  pay  better  than  old. 
But  always  buy  light  until  you  are  sure  the  new  goods 
will  sell.  In  fact  it  is  wise  to  buy  light  whether  the 
goods  are  new  or  not.  Too  many  men's  first  step 
toward  bankruptcy  has  been  in  buying  heavy  stocks. 
There  is  nothing  made  by  doing  this  at  the  best  of 
times.  An  overstock  of  goods  is  never  cheap,  no 
matter  what  they  cost.  If  you  have  plenty  of  idle 
money  use  it  for  a  larger  variety  of  goods  and  not  in 
a  larger  stock.  The  railroad  will  be  at  your  command 
just  as  much  for  a  small  shipment  as  for  a  large  one; 
your  jobbing  house  will  fill  a  small  order  just  as  care- 
fully as  a  large  one,  and  though  you  might  get  2J  per 
cent,  off  a  five-gross  lot,  if  your  wants  only  call  for 
one-half  gross  you  can  afford  to  let  the  extra  2£  per 
cent.  go. 


BELLING   GOODS.  l''l 

In  these  clays  a  four  weeks'  stock  is  large  enough; 
the  nimble  sixpence  is  the  coin  that  fills  the  pocket 
quickest.  But  do  not  get  out  of  salable  goods;  this 
shows  lack  of  care.  When  you  find  an  article  running 
low  look  through  stock  and  make  up  an  order  at  once. 
Customers  do  not  take  it  kindly  to  be  told  "We  are 
out"  of  goods. 

Neither  be  too  quick  in  changing  your  brands  that 
are  giving  satisfaction.  If  you  have  a  quality  of  tea 
that  your  customers  speak  favorably  of,  take  pains  to 
duplicate  it  when  ordering  again.  If  a  certain  brand 
of  boot  or  shoe  is  commending  itself,  advertise  it  and 
hold  to  that  make.  Constantly  aim  to  get  good  goods 
at  lowest  prices,  and  when  you  have  them  stick  to 
them.  If  you  have  something  that  is  doing  exceed- 
ingly well,  try  and  get  the  exclusive  sale  of  it  in  your 
place.  In  some  staple  goods  get  up  brands  of  your 
own;  have  the  goods  made  for  you  by  a  reliable  house 
who  will  guarantee  the  quality,  and  then  if  you  build 
up  a  good  trade  your  neighbors  cannot  profit  by  it. 

One  of  my  friends  gave  an  order  to  a  manufacturer 
for  good,  e  very-day  boots;  when  they  came  to  his 
store  a  fancy  brand  was  put  on  them  with  the  dealer's 
name  under;  the  goods  gave  satisfaction  and  the  men 
wanted  the  same  brand  again,  so  that  in  a  few  sea- 
sons this  boot  was  the  leading  one  in  that  locality,  and 
my  friend  had  all  that  trade.  Another  man  got  up 
his  own  brand  for  white  lead;  the  article  was  good, 
and  by  constant  pushing  and  liberal  advertising  the 
the  sale  was  very  large;  but  by  using  a  cheaper  lead 
one  season  the  eight  years'  work  and  sales  were  totally 


192  ON   THE   KOAD    TO    RICHES. 

destroyed,  and  the  brand  was  worthless.  It  is  sur- 
prising that  men  cannot  learn  that  honesty  is  the  best 
policy. 

Do  not  try  to  do  all  the  selling  yourself.  Have 
none  but  good  clerks  and  men  whom  you  can  turn  a 
customer  over  to  with  confidence.  Have  a  pleasant 
word  for  everyone;  go  to  any  pains  to  get  a  customer 
just  what  she  wants;  listen  to  what  is  being  told  up 
and  down  the  counter,  and  be  at  hand  to  help  a  clerk 
with  a  word  when  the  word  will  do  the  most  good. 
Never  neglect  a  poor  woman  for  one  who  comes  in  a 
carriage;  take  all  trade  in  its  turn,  making  no  dis- 
tinctions whatever,  and  try  and  send  everyone  away 
satisfied  with  your  goods,  your  prices,  your  clerks, 
and  yourself. 


Duiramra-.  193 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

DUNNING. 

In  the  early  days  of  my  traveling  to  sell  goods  on  the 
road,  I  was  annoyed  by  the  complaints  made  of  the 
firm's  method  of  dunning.  The  senior  member  of  the 
firm  was  a  thorough  business  man.  His  idea  of  a  good 
letter  was  one  that  did  not  contain  a  superfluous  word. 
As  a  consequence  of  this,  some  of  his  requests  for  re- 
mittances were  very  short;  so  short  that  they  seemed 
severe  when  such  was  not  his  intention.  He  was  the 
manager  of  the  business,  did  all  the  close  figuring,  and 
was  killing  himself  to  make  his  business  successful. 

The  first  trip  I  made  over  a  certain  road  leading  out 

from  T ,  was  the  most  harrassing  of  all  trips  I  ever 

made  over  that  or  any  other  route.  A  member  of  the 
firm  had  been  over  the  road  three  or  four  months  be- 
fore me,  and  the  bills  he  sold  were  over-due — that  is,  the 
senior  partner  supposed  they  were  overdue,  because  at 
that  time  all  bills  were  sold  on  thirty  days'  time,  un- 
less by  special  agreement.  The  selling  partner  had  not 
reported  any  deviation  from  the  general  rule,  and,  of 
course  the  other  supposed  the  bills  to  be  due,  and  had 
been  dunning  the  parties. 

As  I  was  about  to  leave  the  store  he  said:  "So-and- 
so,  of ,  and  Such-a-one,  of ,  seem  to  be  offen- 

13 


194  ON    THE   EOAD    TO    UICIIES. 

ded  at  our  having  asked  them  to  remit  for  the  bills  A 
sold  them.  I  don't  understand  from  A  that  he  gave 
them  any  extra  time,  but  guess  he  did,  as  he  is  always 
doing  it;  when  you  see  the  parties  you  must  smooth 
it  over."  Now  "  smoothing  over  grievances"  is  one 
thine  to  the  man  who  stays  in  the  house,  and  another 
and  quite  a  different  matter  to  the  man  on  the  road.  I 
would  much  prefer  to  have  none  to  smooth  over.  It 
is  hard  enough  to  sell  goods  when  you  can  go  into  a 
man's  store  and  have  him  meet  you  with  a  smiling 
face;  but  when  it  comes  to  having  to  heal  ol(J  sores 
before  you  can  commence  business,  I  for  one  would 
rather  be  counted  out. 

I  set  out  on  my  trip,  however,  and  determined  to 
do  my  best.  At  my  first  stopping  place  every  one 
was  pleasant  until  I  reached — let  us  say  Smith's.  I 
handed  him  my  card,  and  when  he  read  the  firm's 
name  he  broke  out  savagely:  "Why  the  dash  didn't 
A.  himself  come!     I  just  want  to  see  him  once." 

"He  couldn't  come,"  said  I,  "he  is  sick;  but  I 
guess  I  can  sell  you  fully  as  reasonable  as  he." 

"Sell  me!  Not  a  dashed  cent's  worth  will  that 
house  ever  sell  me  again." 

"  If  there  is  anything  wrong  I  am  ready  to  make  it 
right,  Mr.  Smith,"  I  answered. 

"  There  is  nothing  wrong  except  that  I  like  to  have 
men  do  as  they  agree." 

"And  haven't  the  house?" 

"No,  sir!     They  have  not." 

"Tell  me  the  circumstances;  perhaps  there  is  a  mis- 
understanding upon  one  side  or  the  other." 


DUNNING.  195 

"  There  is  no  misunderstanding  about  it.  Last  fall 
A  came  around  and  teased  me  to  give  him  an  order. 
I  did  not  want  any  goods,  but  he  teased  very  hard, 
and  finally  he  said:  'Make  out  an  order  for  some 
goods,  and  you  needn't  pay  for  them  until  you  sell 
them.'  That  was  fair  enough,  and  I  made  out  quite 
a  laro-e  bill.  But  the  goods  had  not  been  here  over 
thirty  days  when  you  fellows  sent  me  a  statement.  I 
did  not  pay  any  attention  to  it,  and  in  a  couple  of 
weeks  along  comes  another  with  a  line  at  the  bottom: 
'The^above  is  two  weeks  past  due,  please  remit.'  I 
didn't  do  anything  about  that,  and  pretty  soon  along 
comes  another  and  a  mighty  saucy  one.  I  got  mad 
and  wrote  to  them  they  might  come  and  get  their 
goods,  or  wait  until  I  had  sold  them.  But  about  so 
often  along  comes  a  statement,  and  I  expect  you  have 
the  account  on  your  books." 

Yes,  I  had  it. 

"Well,  you  just  tell  A  to  come  out  and  get  his 
goods,  for  I  have  them  all  boxed  up  ready  for  him. 
He  can't  play  any  of  his  dodges  on  me." 

What  could  you  say  to  such  a  story  as  that?  I  did 
not  blame  the  man  for  being  angry,  and  I  told  him  so. 
I  explained  just  how  the  account  stood  on  the  books, 
and  showed  that  the  fault  was  all  with  A,  and  that  the 
writing  was  done  by  another  man,  who  had  nothing 
to  show  that  the  goods  were  not  sold  on  thirty  days. 
I  promised  to  write  home  and  explain  the  matter,  and 
that  everything  should  be  made  satisfactory.  I  wrote 
the  senior  a  note;  he  apologized  to  Smith,  and  did  it 
so  handsomely  that  Smith  remitted  for  the  bill,  and 


196  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

gave  me  a  great  many  good  orders  during  my  stay  on 
the  road. 

I  had  the  same  experience  at  the  next  town,  and  at 
pretty  much  every  place  where  goods  had  been  sold  on 
the  last  trip.  Some  of  the  complaints  I  arranged 
satisfactorily ;  others  were  so  deep  that  I  could  do 
nothing.  But  it  taught  me  a  lesson,  and  I  think  I 
profited  by  it.  When  I  sold  goods  I  had  a  distinct 
understanding  about  terms,  and  when  I  dunned  men 
I  was  careful  to  do  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  money 
would  come,  and  yet  not  make  the  customer  angry, 
unless  he  was  a  man  I  did  not  care  to  sell  again;  in 
that  case  I  was  not  particular  what  I  wrote,  if  it  only 
brought  the  money. 

But  I  defy  any  man  to  do  the  dunning  for  a  large 
house  without  making  some  of  the  customers  angry. 
It  is  an  absolute  impossibility.  A  man  may  have 
dunning  reduced  to  a  science,  as  indeed  many  men 
have,  but  for  all  that  he  will  start  up  some  complaints 
the  moment  he  begins  to  dun  a  certain  class. 

The  book-keeper  or  partner  begins  at  the  first  page 
of  his  ledger  and  writes  to  each  account  that  is  due. 
It  is  his  first  time  at  the  business,  and  he  merely  fills 
out  a  blank  statement  and  expects  that  will  bring  the 
money.  He  was  careful  to  have  printed  at  the  bottom 
of  the  statement,  "  Dear  Sir:  Please  examine  the  above 
statement,  and,  if  correct,  favor  us  with  a  prompt 
remittance."  But  of  the  one  hundred  statements  sent 
out,  he  hears  only  from  four  or  five,  and  they  are  from 
men  who  would  have  remitted  even  if  they  had  not 
received  a  statement.     At  the  end   of  ten  days  the 


DUNNING. 


107 


concern  finds  itself  "  hard  up,"  and  he  determines  to 
go  through  the  books  again. 

He  fills  out  the  statement  as  before,  but  now  he  adds 
"Please  Eemit"  in  very  large  letters.  A  few  more 
respond  to  this  call,  but  at  the  end  of  another  ten  days 
he  finds  that  at  least  eighty  of  the  one  hundred  ac- 
counts are  still  unpaid.  Something  must  be  done. 
Money  the  firm  must  have.  He  opens  the  ledger 
again,  and  this  time  he  determines  to  dun  for  money. 
lie  has  lost  faith  in  statements,  so  he  takes  a  package 
of  note  paper  and  begins: 

Toledo,  Ohio,  April  10,  1880. 

Mr.  John  Smttii — Dear  Sir:  The  liill  bought  of  us  Dec.  30, 
1879,  was  due  March  2.  We  have  already  sent  you  a  statement, 
but  not  hearing  from  you,  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the  matter 
again.  "We  are  in  need  of  funds,  and  would  be  obliged  to  you  for 
a  prompt  remittance.  Truly,  yours,  etc. . 

Of  the  eighty  to  whom  this  is  sent,  forty  or  fifty 
will  respond  with  tolerable  promptness,  while  the  bal- 
ance will  take  their  time  to  it.  But  some  one  or  two 
of  the  eighty  will  have  had  their  feelings  wounded; 
they  don't  like  to  be  dunned  three  times  in  a  month; 
when  they  traded  with  So-and-so  they  never  were 
treated  so,  etc.,  etc. 

If  they  make  this  complaint  to  the  traveling  man, 
do  you  know  what  he  will  probably  do  ?  He  will 
begin  to  blame  the  book-keeper  at  once.  If  he  doesn't 
he  is  an  extraordinary  man.  I  have  seen  but  very 
few  who  did  not.  In  place  of  showing  the  man  the 
position  the  house  was  in,  and  treating  the  matter  in 
a  business  way,  they  at  once  turn  to  and  curse  the 
book-keeper.     "  It  is  all  the  fault  of  the  book-keeper; 


198  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

don't  pay  any  attention  to  it.  The  book-keeper  is 
altogether  to  important.  But  don't  you  worry  about 
it;  when  I  go  home  I'll  make  it  all  right,  and  when 
he  duns  you  again,  don't  take  any  notice  of  it." 

The  result  of  such  "  business  "  advice  as  this  is  that 
very  soon  letters  are  as  ineffectual  in  bringing  the 
money  as  statements  were,  and  the  house  draws  on  the 
party  through  the  nearest  bank;  then  the  customer  is 
so  greatly  offended  that  he  takes  his  valuable  trade  to 
another  place. 

Do  you  think  this  is  overdrawn?  I  assure  you  that 
it  is  not.  The  desire  of  traveling  men  to  make  sales 
has  cut  down  the  profits  to  a  small  figure,  and  their  anxi- 
ety to  flatter,  and  smooth  over  every  little  difficulty,  has 
rendered  collecting  a  very  disagreeable  and  uncertain 
part  of  business.  The  man  who  runs  the  books  and 
finances  has  to  take  all  the  blame.  If  he  is  a  book- 
keeper, he  either  does  not  dun  very  hard,  or  he  is  care- 
ful to  do  so  only  under  the  direction  of  one  of  his  em- 
ployers. If  he  is  a  member  of  the  firm  he  must  expect 
to  be  the  scape-goat  of  all  the  other  members. 

Is  it  business?  Of  course  it  is  not.  It  is  short- 
sighted policy  on  the  part  of  traveling  and  business 
men.  If  it  is  a  crime  to  ask  for  your  money  when  bills 
are  past  due,  men  should  sell  only  for  cash.  If  a  cus- 
tomer is  angry  at  a  statement,  he  should  be  reasoned 
with,  and  not  apologized  to.  If  I  have  dunned  you 
before  your  bill  was  due,  I  ought  to  apologize;  but  if 
afterward,  it  is  you  who  should  apologize  for  having 
given  the  occasion. 

The  traveling  man  and  the  house  that  does  business 


DUNNING.  199 

on  business  principles  will  hold  trade,  when  the  man 
who  is  ready  to  blame  his  book-keeper  or  partner  for 
having  dunned  a  customer,  is  numbered  among  the 
things  that  were.  A  customer  must  either  pay  with- 
out waiting  to  be  dunned,  or  must  be  dunned.  A\  hat 
else  would  you  do?  When  the  bill  is  due  the  money 
should  he  yours.  If  you  let  it  lie  with  him  you  arc 
damaging  yourself  in  order  that  you  may  furnish  him 
capital!  And  yet  your  traveling  man  is  ready  to 
apologize  because  you  asked  for  the  amount! 

The  man  who  is  dunned  for  a  bill  past  due  should 
either  send  the  money  or  write  to  the  party,  explain- 
ing why  he  does  not  send,  and  stating  when  he  can 
probably  remit;  it  is  demanded  not  only  by  business 
principles,  but  by  the  principles  of  common  courtesy. 
When  you  receive  my  statement,  suppose  you  should 
send  me  a  few  lines  like  this: 

''Dear  Sir: — Tour  statement  is  at  hand,  and  I  am  extremely 
sorry  that  I  cannot  remit  at  once.  I  have  had  some  unexpected 
drafts  made  upon  me  the  last  few  days,  but  if  you  will  be  good 
enough  to  favor  me  with  ten  days  more  I  will  then  remit,  with 
interest  for  the  overtime.     Yours,  etc." 

Don't  you  believe  I  would  have  a  better  opinion  of 
you  than  if  you  threw  my  statement  in  the  waste-bas- 
ket, and  sent  me  the  money  by  and  by,  without  a 
word  of  thanks  for  the  extra  time  taken? 

So  long  as  men  do  business  on  credit  there  will  he 
more  or  less  dunning  uecessary.  If  merchants  would 
discharge  the  traveling  men  who  have  no  more  brains 
than  to  curse  the  book-keeper,  they  would  be  the 
gainers  iu  the  end.  Such  a  traveling  man  is  a  dam- 
age. 


200  ON   THE    EOAD    TO    RICHES. 

Statements  are  handy  and  perhaps  necessary;  hut 
as  a  general  thing  they  are  not  enough.  I  prepared  a 
printed  form  of  a  letter  and  statement  comhined. 
They  were  printed  on  a  half-sheet  of  note  paper  size, 
and  might  read  like  this: 

"Dear  Sir: — Herewith  we  hand  you  a  memorandum  of  your 

account,  which  is  now due,  showing  a  balance  due  us  of  $ 

Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  give  this  your  early  attention,  and 
favor  us  with  a  remittance. 

"  We  will  also  be  glad  to  have  your  orders  for  anything  in  our 

line. 

"  Very  truly  yours,"  etc. 

I  like  this  printed  in  red,  so  that  the  figures,  filled 
in  with  black  ink,  will  be  very  prominent.  If  the 
account  is  past  due,  I  write  the  word  in  the  blank  space 
before  the  word  "  due." 

I  am  a  believer  in  collecting  money  through  the 
banks,  that  is,  drawing  for  accounts.  It  is  becoming 
very  general  as  between  manufacturers  and  jobbers, 
and  it  will  eventually  be  used  as  extensively  between 
wholesaler  and  retailer.  I  would  have  another  blank 
form  to  send  in  about  fifteen  days  from  the  first,  to 
those  who  had  not  remitted.  Something  like  this: 
"  Dear  Silt: — 

"  Under  the  date  of ,  we  notified  you  that  your  account, 

amounting  to ,  was  then due.  We  are  without  a  re- 
mittance from  you  up  to  this  time. 

"  We  are  in  need  of  funds,  and  should  we  not  hear  from  you  by 

the inst.,  we  will  take  the  liberty  of  drawing  upon  you  for 

the  amount  through  the Bank   of  ,  adding  interest 

and  ex  change. 

"  If  it  will  be  convenient  for  you  to  honor  our  draft,  please  in- 
form us  by  return  mail. 

"Very  truly,"  etc. 


DUNNING.  201 

Should  this  fail  to  bring  a  remittance,  the  party 
should  be  drawn  on,  and  it  will  prove  labor-saving  to 
have  a  blank  printed  to  accompany  the  draft;  some- 
thing of  this  kind: 

"  Cashier Bank : 

"Dear  Sir: — We  enclose  for  collection  and  return  in  New 
York  exchange,  our  drafts  on 


"  No  protest. 

"  Should  they  desire  a  few  days'  time,  you  may  grant  it. 

"Yours,"  etc. 

I  would  have  several  lines  on  the  face  of  the  form, 
because  you  might  want  to  draw  on  several  parties 
through  some  one  bank.  The  drafts  can  be  bought  at 
any  book-store  or  printing  office. 

As  a  sample  of  the  kind  of  letters  that  are  sometimes 
sent  out  by  way  of  duns,  here  is  an  anecdote  that  is 
going  the  rounds  of  the  press  : 

A  merchant  who  was  nervous  and  irritable  received 
a  letter  from  a  customer  in  the  country  begging  for 
more  time.  Turning  to  his  clerk  he  said  :  "  Write  to 
this  man  immediately!"  "Yes,  sir;  what  shall  I 
say?"  The  merchant  was  pacing  the  office,  and 
repeated  the  order  :  "Write  him  at  once!"  "Cer- 
tainly, sir;  what  do  you  wish  to  say  ?"  The  impatient 
merchant  broke  out:  "Something  or  nothing,  and 
that  very  quick." 

The  clerk  asked  no  more,  but  wrote  and  dispatched 
a  letter.  By  return  mail  came  a  letter  from  the 
delinquent  debtor,  enclosing  the  money  to  balance 
account.     The  merchant's  eyes  glistened  when  he  saw 


202  ON   THE   ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

the  remittance,  and  hastening  to  the  desk  lie  asked  the 
clerk:  "What  sort  of  a  letter  did  you  write  to  this 
man  ?  Here  is  the  money  in  full."  "  I  wrote  just 
what  you  told  me  to,  sir.  The  letter  was  copied." 
The  letter-book  was  consulted,  and  there  it  stood, 
short  and  to  the  point:  "Dear  Sir: — Something  or 
nothing,      and      that      very      quick.      Yours,    etc., 

."     And  this  letter  brought  the    money, 

when  a  more  elaborate  dun  would  have  failed  of  the 
happy  effect. 


ATTENTION   TO    DETAILS.  203 


CHAPTEK  XXIX. 


ATTENTION    TO    DETAILS. 


No  merchant,  and  particularly  no  young  merchant, 
can  possibly  succeed  who  does  not  master  and  watch 
the  details  of  his  business.  There  is  no  one  item  too 
small  to  be  watched,  or  to  have  done  well.  Looseness 
in  some  trivial  matter  will  beget  carelessness  in  that 
which  is  important.  Waste  among  things  costing  pen- 
nies will  lead  to  waste  where  dollars  are  spent.  It  will 
astonish  any  merchant  who  has  been  careless  about  the 
little  things  to  see  how  much  he  can  reduce  his  ex- 
penses by  judicious  pruning  among  these  same  petty 
items. 

Of  two  partners  with  whom  I  had  a  close  business 
acquaintance,  one  was  careful  about  every  penny  ex- 
pended, no  matter  what  he  was  buying — whether  arti- 
cles for  use  in  the  store,  or  goods  to  sell  again.  His 
principle  was  to  make  every  cent  go  as  far  as  it  would. 
His  partner  was  fully  as  anxious  to  make  money,  but 
was  careless  about  store  expenses,  fancying  there  had 
to  be  about  so  much  money  spent  in  that  way,  and  that 
it  did  not  matter  what  it  went  for.  The  close  man  had 
complete  charge  of  the  store  for  the  first  few  years, 
and  the  expenses  were  kept  at  a  minimum  figure, 
though  it  was  up-hill  work,  having  to  watch  his  part- 


20-i  ON   THE   KOAD   TO    EICHES. 

ner  as  well  as  the  clerks.  They  were  so  successful  that 
business  increased  greatly,  and  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  watch  the  details  so  closely  as  he  had  been  doing, 
and  at  the  end  of  another  year  he  found  the  expense 
account,  with  the  same  number  of  men  in  the  store 
and  at  the  same  salaries,  had  increased  eleven  hundred 
dollars.     So  much  for  the  pennies. 

Most  of  us  imagine  that  we  can  safely  leave  all  the 
business  to  the  clerks,  if  we  but  watch  the  sales  closely 
ourselves.  The  odds  and  ends  about  the  store  are 
purchased  by  the  clerks,  and  we  do  not  look  at  prices, 
or  at  the  length  of  time  the  old  article  was  used.  "  It 
is  for  the  store"  answers  all  questions,  if  we  have  the 
curiosity  to  ask. 

Our  correspondence  is  left  to  our  book-keepers,  and 
our  purchases  made  at  the  wish  of  our  stock-clerk.  It 
ought  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  merchant  cannot 
understand  his  business  too  wrell.  To  thoroughly 
have  the  run  of  it  he  must  watch  every  detail.  If  his 
business  is  very  extensive  he  cannot  expect  to  write 
every  letter,  get  out  every  order,  or  sell  every  bill  of 
goods;  but  he  can  see  that  all  these  things  are  done, 
and  done  as  they  should  be. 

Every  letter  to  the  house  should  be  seen  by  him. 
Ko  matter  if  it  consists  of  but  a  line,  it  should  be 
placed  on  his  desk  if  he  is  not  present  upon  its  arrival. 
The  correspondence  is  the  pulse  of  the  business.  The 
man  who  attends  to  it  is  in  a  position  where  he  must 
weigh  carefully  every  word  before  his  pen  records  it. 
This  important  position  cannot  be  delegated  to  a 
clerk,    trusting  him   to  show  you  the  letters  which 


ATTENTION   TO   DETAILS.  2<>5 

will  need  your  attention.  The  very  letter  perhaps 
that  you  ought  to  have  answered  yourself  has  been 
answered  by  him,  and  not  at  all  as  you  would  have 
written.  Have  it  ordered,  then,  that  every  letter 
which  is  received  shall  be  placed  on  your  desk,  and 
answered  only  when  you  have  read  it. 

Do  not  trust  your  entire  banking  business  to  a 
clerk.  lie  may  carry  the  deposits  to  the  bank",  and 
do  such  work  as  that,  but  when  you  have  special  busi- 
ness with  a  bank  go  yourself.  If  you  want  some 
paper  discounted,  or  a  loan  extended,  you  can  attend 
to  the  matter  much  more  satisfactorily  than  a  clerk 
could  do.  If  the  banker  has  any  objections  to  make 
he  will  not  scruple  to  make  them  to  you  as  readily  as 
he  would  have  done  to  your  clerk;  while  you  may  be 
able  to  remove  his  doubts,  and  your  clerk  could  not. 

The  following  "Hints  to  those  Having  Bank  Ac- 
counts," were  furnished  a  Philadelphia  paper  by  an 
experienced  banker;  they  will  bear  study,  and  should 
be  acted  upon. 

1.  If  you  wish  to  open  an  account  with  a  hank,  provide  your- 
self with  a  proper  introduction.  Well-managed  banks  do  not 
open  accounts  with  strangers. 

2.  Do  not  draw  a  check  unless  you  have  the  money  in  hank  or 
in  your  possession  to  desposit.  Don't  test  the  courage  or  gener- 
osity  of  your  bank  by  presenting,  or  allowing  to  be  preset, ted, 
your  check  for  a  larger  sum  than  your  balance. 

3.  Do  not  draw  a  check  and  send  it  to  a  person  out  of  the  city 
expecting  to  make  it  goxl  before  it  can  possibly  get  back.  Some- 
times telegraph  advice  is  asked  about  such  checks. 

4.  Do  not  exchange  checks  with  anybody.  This  is  soon  dis- 
covered by  your  bank  ;  it  does  your  friend  no  good,  and  discredits 
you. 


206  ON   THE   KOAD    TO   RICIIES. 

5.  Do  riot  give  your  check  to  a  friend  with  the  condition  that 
ho  is  not  to  use  it  until  a  certain  time.  He  is  sm-e  to  betray  you, 
for  obvious  reasons.  Do  not  take  an  out-of-town  check  from  a 
neighbor,  pass  it  through  your  bank  without  charge,  and  give 
him  your  check  for  it.     Your  are  sure  to  get  caught. 

6.  Do  not  give  your  check  to  a  stranger.  This  is  an  open  door 
for  fraud,  and  if  your  bank  loses  thereby,  it  Won't  feel  kindly  to- 
ward you. 

7.  When  you  send  your  check  out  of  the  city  to  pay  bills,  write 
the  name  and  residence  of  your  payee  thus:  "  Pay  to  John  Smith 
&  Co.,  of  Boston.'"  This  will  put  your  bank  on  its  guard,  if  pre- 
sented at  its  counter. 

8.  Don't  commit  the  folly  of  supposing  that  because  you  trust 
the  bank  with  your  money,  the  bank  ought  to  trust  you  by  paying 
your  over-drafts. 

9.  Don't  suppose  you  can  behave  badly  in  one  bank,  and  stand 
well  with  the  others. 

10.  Don't  quarrel  with  your  bank.  If  you  are  not  treated  well, 
go  somewhere  else,  but  don't  go  and  leave  your  discount  line 
unprotected.  Don't  think  it  unreasonable  if  your  bank  declines  to 
discount  an  accommodation  note.  Have  a  clear  definition  of  an 
accommodation  note;  in  the  meaning  of  a  bank,  it  is  a  note  for 
which  no  value  has  passed  from  the  endorser  to  the  drawer. 

11.  If  you  want  an  accommodation  note  discounted,  tell  your 
bank  frankly  tnat  it  is  not,  in  their  definition,  a  business  note.  If 
you  take  a  note  from  a  debtor  with  an  agreement,  verbal  or  writ- 
ten, that  it  is  to  be  renewed  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  if  you  get 
that  note  discounted  and  then  ask  to  have  a  new  one  discounted 
to  take  up  the  old  one,  tell  your  bank  all  about  it 

12.  Don't  commit  the  folly  of  saying  that  you  will  guarantee 
the  payment  of  a  note  which  you  have  already  endorsed. 

13.  Give  your  bank  credit  for  being  intelligent  generally, 
and  understanding  its  own  business  particularly.  It  is  much  bet- 
ter informed,  probably,  than  you  suppose. 

14.  Don't  try  to  convince  your  bank  that  the  paper  or  security 
which  has  already  been  declined  is  better  than  the  bank  supposes. 
This  is  only  chaff. 

15.  Don't  quarrel  with  a  teller  because  he  does  not  pay  you  in 
money  exactly  as  you  wish.    As  a  rule  he  does  the  best  he  can. 


ATTENTION   TO   DETAILS.  207 

16.  Tn  all  your  intercourse  with  banfe  officers,  treal  them  witti 

the  same  courtesy  and  candor  that  you  would  expect  and  desire  if 
the  •tations  were  reversed. 

17.  Don't  send  ignorant  and  stupid  messengers  to  the  bank  to 
transact  your  business. 

In  a  very  large  establishment  I  suppose  it  is  neces- 
sary that  the  book-keeper  or  cashier  should  be  permit- 
ted to  sign  the  firm  name,  but  it  is  not  necessary  in 
an  ordinary  house,  and  I  doubt  if  it  is  wise  to  all< tw- 
it to  the  extent  that  is  ordinarily  done.  For  myself, 
I  prefer  to  sign  my  own  checks  and  make  my  own 
acceptances. 

Store  expenses  will  bear  constant  watching.  Every 
dollar  of  expense  is  a  dollar  out  of  the  profits.  We 
do  not  sit  down  to-day  and  say  that  we  will  charge 
such  and  such  a  per  cent,  on  what  our  goods  cost  us, 
and  add  so  much  for  store  expenses.  Prices  are  regu- 
lated by  competition.  If  an  article  is  selling  at  cost, 
you  must  meet  the  market.  Consequently  your 
profits  are  not  regulated  by  what  goods  cost  you,  or 
by  what  your  store  expenses  are;  but  the  cost  of  goods 
and  expense  of  doing  business  are  matters  that  deter- 
mine if  you  have  made  or  lost  money. 

This  being  the  case,  no  clerk  should  have  liberty  to 
purchase  articles  on  his  own  responsibility.  Of  course 
you  do  not  intend  that  yon  shall  "je  told  whenever 
a  broom  is  needed,  but  you  can  easily  make  your 
watchfulness  felt,  and  be  a  wholesome  restraint  on  the 
clerks. 

Stationery  and  postage  stamps  are  very  expensive 
items  in  a  year's  business,  and  yet  there  is  hardly  a 
clerk  to  be  found  who  thinks  he  must  economize  in 


20S  ON   THE   EOAD    TO    EICIIES. 

these  things.  If  he  has  a  letter  to  write  he  writes  it  at 
the  desk,  puts  it  in  the  firm's  envelope,  sticks  a  three 
cent  stamp  on  it,  and  away  it  goes.  I  never  knew  a 
merchant  who  cared  to  check  his  clerks  about  using 
his  stamps,  but  I  have  known  a  great  many  who 
thought  the  furnishing  of  postage  stamps  for  eight  or 
ten  clerks  anything  but  a  "  petty  "  item.  If  one  of  the 
clerks  was  to  take  three  cents  out  of  the  cash  drawer 
to  pay  postage  on  his  letter,  he  would  be  spoken  to 
very  promptly,  but  the  bit  of  paper  that  cost  three 
cents  is  too  trifling  a  matter  to  mention. 

A  constant  watch  should  be  kept  on  the  stock,  and 
if  there  is  a  certain  space  alloted  to  the  stock  of  each 
article,  it  will  be  easy  to  see  if  the  amount  of  that  arti- 
cle is  low  or  not.  By  watching  the  stock,  too,  you 
will  learn  how  fast  each  item  sells,  and  will  be  better 
posted  when  purchasing  the  next  time. 

There  ought  to  be  a  regular  overhauling  of  odds 
and  ends,  and  of  damaged  goods,  so  that  they  shall  be 
where  they  can  be  seen  and  disposed  of.  In  many 
stores  there  is  but  little  effort  made  to  work  off  old 
goods.  The  last  new  thing  sells  the  best,  and  the  old 
patterns  are  pushed  aside  where  they  are  not  seen  or 
sold.  Perhaps  at  the  end  of  the  year,  when  they  are 
being  inventoried,  some  one  says  these  goods  must 
be  cleaned  out,  but  there  are  so  many  of  them  they 
can  only  be  worked  off  at  a  great  sacrifice,  and  the 
chances  are  that  they  will  not  be  sold  at  all.  By  hav- 
in<y  a  place  for  these,  and  ordering  that  all  goods  com- 
ing under  the  list  shall  be  brought  there  whenever 
seen,   they   cannot   accumulate,    and   can   be  sold  at 


ATTENTION   TO   DETAILS.  209 

good  prices.  I  never  saw  an  article  yet  that  could 
not  l»e  worked  off  to  some  one,  but  it'  it  is  not  in 
sight  it  will  not  be  thought  of. 

Getting  out  orders  and  shipping  goods  are  two  of 

the  most  important  duties  your  clerks  have  to  per- 
form. But  they  should  feel  that  they  are  being  close- 
ly watched,  and  should  have  errors  called  to  their 
attention.  Customers  will  readily  forgive  mistakes, 
unless  the  mistake  happens  to  be  in  the  goods  sent 
them.  When  they  order  eight-penny  nails  for  a  spe- 
cial customer,  and  receive  ten-penny,  one  cannot 
blame  them  for  getting  out  of  patience. 

Some  of  the  most  ridiculous  mistakes  are  made  in 
sending  out  orders;  mistakes  that  are  unnecessary  and 
very  annoying.  I  remember  seeing  goods  marked 
Michigan  instead  of  Ohio;  Brown's  goods  marked  for 
Smith,  and  Smith's  for  Brown;  and  goods  sent  to  par- 
ties who  had  not  ordered  anything.  I  do  not  blame 
Mrs.  Jones  for  being  angry  when  she  finds  a  package 
of  starch  where  she  ordered  raisins,  and  it  generally 
takes  more  time  in  explanations  and  apologies  than 
the  goods  are  worth.  Of  course  mistakes  will  occur, 
but  they  ought  to  be  only  mistakes,  and  not  simple 
carelessness. 

If  it  will  be  inferred  from  what  I  have  written  that 
I  expect  the  merchant  to  do  everything  in  the  store,  I 
shall  not  have  done  myself  justice, because  such  is  not 
my  advice  or  instruction.  He  should  do  nothing  that 
others  can  do  as  well  for  him,  but  he  should  be  aware 
of  everything  that  is  being  done,  and  give  it  the  proper 
force  and  direction,     lie  need   not  write  every  letter, 

14 


210  ON    TIIE    ROAD   TO   RICHES. 

but  every  letter  should  be  written  as  he  would  write  it. 
He  need  not  get  out  every  order,  but  every  order  should 
be  filled  as  he  knows  it  ought  to  be,  and  his  eyes  should 
be  used  to  such  purpose  that  he  must  see  if  there  is 
neglect  or  error.  The  eye  of  the  master  should  not 
only  be  worth  both  his  hands,  but  it  should  see  to  such 
purpose  that  it  will  save  him  and  his  men  from  fall- 
ing into  blunders. 


SPECULATION.  211 


CHAPTER    XXX. 


SPECULATION. 


To  depart  from  regular  business  is  to  lose  money, 
is  a  maxim  among  business  men,  and  is  so  old  that  its 
parentage  is  lost.  A  legitimate  business,  fairly- 
attended  to,  will  rarely  foil  to  bring  a  competence, 
if  not  wealth;  and  yet  it  is  said  that  only  four  or  five 
merchants  out  of  one  hundred  are  able  to  keep  their 
names  out  of  the  bankrupt's  list.  At  first  sight  it 
does  not  seem  possible  that  this  can  be  true,  but  it 
appears  to  be  borne  out  by  statistics;  and  if  one  runs 
over  the  list  of  business  men  whom  he  knew  twenty 
years  ago,  he  will  be  surprised  to  see  how  many  of 
them  were  closed  out  by  their  creditors. 

Some  years  ago  a  gentleman  of  Cincinnati  made 
out  a  list  of  four  hundred  business  houses,  with  whose 
history  he  had  been  acquainted  during  the  preceding 
twenty  years.  Of  the  four  hundred  there  were  but 
five  in  business  at  the  time  of  his  writing.  A  great 
many  of  the  firms  had  been  dissolved  by  death,  many 
more  by  ill-luck  and  the  sheriff.  As  he  had  them 
numbered  on  his  list  they  read  like  this.  I  will 
quote  the  history  of  a  few  of  them: 

1.  Failed  ;  afterwards  resumed  business. 

2.  Failed  ;  left  the  city. 

3.  Failed  ;  now  engaged  in  collecting  accounts. 


212  ON   THE   ROAD   TO   RICHES. 

4.  Died. 

5.  Now  captain  of  a  steamboat. 

6.  Left  merchandizing  for  pork-  packing. 

7.  Dead. 

8.  Failed  ;  left  the  city. 

9.  One  partner  died  ;  the  other  out  of  buiness  ;  both  insol- 
vent. 

10.  Dead. 

11.  Failed  ;  Now  a  book-keeper. 

12.  Became  embarrassed  and  swallowed  poison. 

13.  Failed. 

14.  Failed,  and  died  a  common  sot. 

15.  Failed,  and  left  the  city. 

16.  Failed. 

17.  Dead. 

18.  Dead. 

19.  Failed ;  intemperate. 

20.  One  of  the  partners  dead  ;   the  other  is  engaged  in  other 
business. 

21.  Senior  partner  died  of  intemperance ;  junior  now  pastor 
of  a  Presbyterian  church. 

I  might  as  well  stop  here.  It  is  simply  bringing 
evidence  to  prove  what  every  one  is  willing  to  ac- 
knowledge as  a  fact:  that  the  proportion  of  men  who 
succeed  in  business  is  very  small  indeed. 

The  haste  to  be  rich  is  given  as  the  primary  cause 
of  half  the  failures,  and  the  first  step  on  that  road  is 
reached  through  speculation. 

Every  one  of  us  imagines  that  if  he  had  the  oppor- 
tunity he  could  easily  make  himself  a  John  Jacob 
Astor,  or  a  Rothschild.  The  daily  papers  are  filled 
with  reports  of  millions  made  or  lost  on  "Wall  street, 
and  it  is  the  millions  "made"  which  alone  attract  our 
eye.  It  looks  so  simple  !  Any  one  might  have 
known  that  such  and  such  stocks  were  going  up,  and 


SPECULATION. 


213 


had  we  but  had  a  few   spare  dollars  we  would  have 
"  gone  in." 

Among  the  commission  grain  men  are  many  who 
have  acquired  a  goodly  amount  of  riches.  "We  see 
them  manipulating  the  grain  market  and  it  strikes  us 
that  it  is  a  very  easy  and  sure  way  to  make  a  dollar. 
It  only  requires  a  small  amount  of  money  for  a 
"margin."  For  one  hundred  dollars  we  can  have 
them  buy  us  one  thousand  bushels  of  wheat.  Of 
course  it  will  advance  ten  cents  a  bushel  in  a  day  or 
two,  and  we  are  one  hundred  dollars  ahead  !  How 
easy  it  is  !     And  just  as  sure  as  it  is  easy  ! 

When  I  was  in  business  I  had  among  my  acquain- 
tances a  gentleman  who  was  traveling  for,  and  a  part- 
ner in,  an  eastern  house.  He  was  an  excellent  sales- 
man, a  polished  gentleman,  and  a  good  business 
man.  But  his  mind  was  on  Wall  street.  If  there 
was  a  ripple  on  the  surface  of  the  gold  market,  and 
the  premium  advanced  a  trifle,  he  was  sure  he  could, 
if  he  were  but  situated  rightly,  make  a  good  thing 
out  of  buying.  If  it  was  tending  downward,  he  was 
sure  there  was  as  much  money  to  be  made  by  selling. 
He  found  himself  right  about  often  enough  to  keep 
his  speculative  spirit  alive,  and  he  did  not  lay  up  in 
his  mind  the  times  when  he  misjudged. 

After  a  few  years  of  prosperous  business  his  share 
of  the  capital  in  the  firm  had  increased  to  a  respecta- 
ble sum;  he  determined  to  withdraw  from  the  house 
and  give  rein  to  the  ability  he  was  sure  he  possessed. 
He  was  paid  some  thirty  thousand  dollars  by  his  part- 
ners,  and  he  betook  himself    to   his  broker's    office. 


214:  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

This  was  January  1st.  In  March  or  April  following 
I  made  enquiry  regarding  him,  and  was  informed 
that  lie  had  been  cleaned  out  on  Wall  street,  had  lost 
every  dollar  he  had  drawn  out  of  the  firm,  and  was 
then  seeking  a  situation  as  salesman  with  the  men 
who  had  formerly  been  his  partners. 

This  is  not  an  extreme  case  by  any  means.  He 
simply  played  the  fool  with  his  own  money.  The 
cases  are  not  rare  where  men  have  ruined  their  part- 
ners through  an  overweening  conceit  in  their  own 
ability.  If  they  do  not  turn  towards  gold  and  stocks, 
too  many  merchants  are  speculating  in  merchandise. 

A  shrewd  merchant  will  always  scan  the  market 
closely,  and  anticipate  advances  or  declines  in  the  cost 
of  goods.  This,  when  carried  to  a  proper  business 
limit,  is  thouroughly  legitimate.  But  when  a  man 
buys  many  more  goods  of  a  kind  than  he  can  possi- 
bly dispose  of  to  his  trade  within  the  season,  or  at 
most  within  the  year,  he  has  stepped  outside  of  busi- 
ness, and  has  become  a  speculator. 

A  few  years  ago  there  were  many  ups  and  downs 
in  the  cost  of  iron  and  steel  goods.  They  advanced 
rapidly,  and  declined  with  about  the  same  speed. 
Among  my  friends  was  a  firm  in  the  hardware  busi- 
ness who  fancied  they  had  but  to  buy  liberally,  and 
they  would  realize  a  splendid  advance  on  the  goods, 
as  well  as  make  their  usual  profit.  They  bought  to 
the  utmost  extent  of  their  credit,  and  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  store  away  their  goods.  When  trade  opened 
they  sent  out  their  drummers,  but  every  retailer  in 
the  country  had  also  seen  the  coming  advance,  and 


SPECULATION.  215 

had  either  laid  in  stock  or  had  contracted  for  it  to  be 
delivered  at  the  old  price.      Every  other  jobber  was 

prepared  fur  the  advance  as  well  as  my  friends,  and 
some  of  them  were  quoting  goods  at  the  old  prices. 

The  result  was  that  the  end  of  the  season  found  my 
friends  with  a  very  large  stuck  of  goods  on  hand,  and 
their  notes  falling  due.  They  were  compelled  to  force 
sales,  and  their  little  experiment  cost  them  twelve 
thousand  dollars. 

Of  course  what  is  safe  for  a  house  of  large  surplus 
capital,  would  he  very  unsafe  for  a  young  man  who  is 
doing  business  to  the  fullest  limit  his  capital  will  allow 
him.  But  as  a  general  business  principle,  it  is  unwise 
to  buy  more  goods  than  can  be  worked  off  in  one  season. 

In  a  memoir  of  Peter  C.  Brooks,  written  by  the  late 
Edward  Everett,  occurs  the  following  sentence:  "He 
often,  with  playful  humility,  said  that  he  preferred  to 
keep  in  shoal  water;  not  because  the  water  was  shallow, 
but  because  he  knew  exactly  how  deep  it  was." 

Speculating  in  real  estate  is  a  favorite  excitement 
with  our  western  merchants.  Mr.  This  or  Mr.  That 
has  made  himself  independently  rich  by  a  few  transac- 
tions in  city  lots,  and  what  he  has  done  is  possible  to 
every  one.  This  is  the  reasoning,  and  the  nextstep  is 
to  buy  a  batch  of  city  lots  in  some  well-advertised 
"  Addition,"  on  long  time,  with  a  small  payment  down, 
and  the  hope  that  the  lots  can  be  sold  at  a  big  advance 
before  the  next  payments  become  due.  But  a  man 
who  attends  to  his  business  has  very  little  time  to 
spend  in  watching  the  real  estate  market-,  and  the 
next  payment  falls  due,  and  the  lots  are  still  on  hand. 


21G  OX    THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

It  is  similar  to  this  when  the  next  year  rolls  around, 
and  the  merchant  finds  the  drain  on  his  business  is 
hampering  him.  He  puts  the  lots  in  the  hands  of  an 
agent,  with  orders  to  push  them  off,  and  considers  him- 
self fortunate  if  he  gets  out  of  the  transaction  without 
loss. 

Another  form  of  speculation,  and  a  very  disastrous 
one  among  retailers,  is  the  putting  up  of  a  store  build- 
ing. A  shrewd  and  successful  merchant  once  advised 
lhe  to  stop  selling  to  a  man  the  moment  I  saw  him 
about  to  build  a  store-room.  I  do  not  think  I  would 
cany  the  rule  quite  to  that  extent,  but  I  do  know  that 
the  first  downward  step  of  nine-tenths  of  the  retailers 
who  fail  is  made  when  they  begin  to  invest  their  cap- 
ital in  a  building.  The  reasoning  used  is  so  absurd 
that  one  is  surprised  that  it  convinces  them.  Yet  it 
is  a  hopeless  task  to  try  to  turn  one  of  these  men  from 
his  project. 

One  of  my  customers  in  whom  I  was  greatly  inter- 
ested, a  first-rate  fellow,  and  one  who  had  been  very 
successful  in  business  in  a  small  way,  announced  to 
me  that  he  was  tired  of  paying  rent,  and  that  he  in- 
tended to  build.  I  will  tell  his  story,  because  he  is  a 
pretty  fair  sample  of  the  average  merchant  who 
builds. 

Paying  rent  was  what  seemed  to  hurt  him  most. 
He  was  in  a  small  town;  his  room  was  not  a  very 
large  one;  and  his  rent  was  $200  a  year.  He  had 
arranged  for  the  loan  of  $1,000,  to  be  paid  in  five 
years.  He  intended  to  take  $1,000  out  of  his  business, 
and  there  were  lumbermen,  masons,  and  others  owing 


SPECULATION.  217 

him  who  would  furnish  him  materials.  As  lie  fig- 
ured it  the  proposed  building  would  cost  him  s2,:'00. 
It  was  to  have  a  basement  and  two  stories.  The  first 
story  and  basement  he  would  use;  the  second  story  he 
would  rent,  and  he  had  a  tenant  already  in  prospect 
who  would  pay  him  $10  per  month,  or  $120  a  year. 
Assuming  that  the  money  was  worth  ten  per  cent., 
this  would  leave  his  rent  but  8110  a  year,  and  give 
him  a  much  handsomer  store-room  than  the  one  he 
was  now  occupying.  I  reasoned  with  him  like  this: 
That  he  could  not  afford  to  take  a  thousand  dollars 
out  of  his  working  capital ;  that  the  material  furnished 
him  by  the  men  who  owed  him  was  the  same  as  cash 
out  of  the  business;  that  he  was  not  allowing  for 
taxes,  insurance  and  repairs;  that  there  was  always  a 
possibility  of  his  room  being  without  a  tenant;  and 
that,  finally,  unless  his  experience  was  different  from 
every  other  man's  who  ever  builded,  he  would  find  that 
his  building  would  cost  more  than  the  original  esti- 
mates. 

Of  course  he  did  not  heed  me,  and  when  next  I  saw 
him  he  had  his  building  well  under  way;  but  he  was 
a  little  close,  could  pay  me  but  a  little  that  time. 
AVhen  I  saw  him  again  his  building  was  about  done, 
but  it  had  cost  him  so  much  more  than  he  expected 
that  it  made  him  very  hard  up,  and  I  must  be  easy 
with  him.  When  the  room  was  done  he  came  down 
to  buy  goods.  I  had  looked  up  his  affairs,  and  found 
that  he  had  put  about  all  his  means  into  his  building, 
leaving  him  with  nothing  to  carry  on  his.  business,  and 
I  did  not  try  to  sell  him.      But  he  bought  of  one  of 


218  ON   THE    ROAD   TO    EICHES. 

m j  competitors,  and  bought  a  very  large  bill;  not  so 
much  because  he  really  needed  the  goods,  as  because 
he  had  a  great  many  shelves  and  must  have  something 
on  them.  I  determined  to  be  firm  in  dunning  him, 
and  was  successful  in  getting  nearly  all  of  my  money 
out  of  him,  but  when  one  of  his  creditors  attached  his 
building  he  was  still  a  little  in  my  debt. 

Now,  as  I  said  before,  this  is  but  an  ordinary  case; 
I  have  known  of  scores  which  were  almost  exactly 
like  it.  And  I  think  the  retailer  who  invests  in  a 
building  will  bear  watching  by  his  creditors. 

As  a  contrast  in  this  case,  however,  I  am  reminded 
of  a  friend  who  determined  to  put  up  a  building,  but 
would  not  invest  a  penny  until  he  had  saved  it  from 
his  business.  Every  month  he  drew  a  small  amount 
of  money  out  of  the  store  and  put  it  to  his  building  ac- 
count. If  in  the  next  month  his  business  demand- 
ed it  back  in  the  store,  back  it  went.  At  the  end  of 
a  couple  of  years  he  had  enough  for  his  building;  he 
had  proved  that  his  business  did  not  need  it,  and  con- 
sequently he  was  not  cramped  or  worried  when  his 
building  was  done. 

I  cannot  better  conclude  this  chapter  than  by  quot- 
ing from  a  lecture  delivered  by  an  eminent  Pennsyl- 
vania Judge.  "As  a  summary,"  he  says,  "of  the 
doctrines  I  desire  to  impress  upon  you,  let  me  add, 
that  debts  contracted  in  the  indulgence  of  extravagant 
and  unbecoming  luxuries,  or  in  the  pursuit  of  rash 
and  desperate  adventures,  are  a  violation  of  the  sound 
principles  of  mercantile  integrity;  that  the  true  mer- 
chant will  thoroughly  qualify  himself  for  his  busi- 


SPECULATION.  219 

ness  by  a  patient  and  systematic  preparation,  and  will 
depend  upon  the  regular  operations  of  legitimate 
commerce  for  his  profits,  which,  though  more  slow, 
are  finally  more  sure  and  lasting  than  the  fluctuating 
gains  of  speculation." 


220  ON   THE    EOAD   TO   EICUES. 


OHAPTEK  XXXI. 

LETTING    WELL-ENOUGH    ALONE. 

How  many  of  us  are  able  to  say  that  we  are  doing 
all  that  we  care  to  do  ?  None,  I  am  afraid.  Let  some 
one  show  us  how  we  can  clear  another  hundred  dollars, 
and  we  are  tolerably  sure  to  ache  for  the  money,  even 
if  we  are  too  timid  to  venture.  I  have  no  fault  to  find 
with  the  laudable  ambition  of  a  merchant  to  increase 
his  trade  and  his  profits.  It  is  his  privilege  to  extend 
these  to  the  farthest  limit  that  he  cares  to,  if  he  can. 
But  the  uneasy  feeling  that  leads  some  into  speculation, 
induces  others  to  constantly  try  new  plans,  when  the 
old  plans  are  probably  better  and  assuredly  safer. 
Take  a  man  who  has  this  strong  desire  to  get  rich,  and 
is  without  the  proper  patience  to  abide  by  his  slowly 
increasing  trade,  and  the  chances  are  decidedly  in 
favor  of  his  making  some  change  that  will  ruin  him. 

Among  the  many  favorite  schemes  that  lodge  among 
merchants'  brains,  the  desire  to  move  to  a  larger  town 
is  always  the  most  plausible  one.  If  they  are  doing 
fairly  at  a  cross-roads,  they  sigh  for  a  room  in  the 
village.  The  village  merchant  is  sure  that  he  is  equal 
to  the  shrewdest,  and  wishes  he  were  in  the  country 
town,  where  he  could  have  a  chance  to  spread  himself. 
Our  friends  in  the  town  long  for  a  sight  of  their  names 


LETTING    WELL-ENOUGn    ALONE.  221 

among  the  list  of  the  city  houses,  and  the  city  retailer 
thinks  he  would  be  happy  if  he  were  only  in  the  whole- 
sale trade. 

It  is  very  true  that  most  of  our  city  dealers  have 
been  country  dealers  in  their  time,  and  that  most  of 
our  wholesalers  were  formerly  retailers;  but  it  is  not 
true  that  because  a  man  is  doing  well  in  the  country, 
it  will  naturally  follow  that  he  must  do  well  in  the 
city.  Of  the  country  merchants  who  remove  to  the 
city,  there  are  not  more  than  three  out  of  a  hundred 
who  will  not  end  in  the  bankrupt  list,  if  they  do  not 
repent  in  time.  Removing  to  the  city  is  the  favorite 
idea  of  every  country  merchant  who  is  doing  a  large 
business.  lie  will  tell  you  that  he  is  buying  goods 
as  cheaply  as  the  wholesalers  are;  that  he  can  com- 
mand a  much  larger  capital  than  half  the  wholesale 
houses  were  started  with;  that  he  can  get  every  bit  of 
trade  in  that  section  of  his  State,  and  that  he,  having 
been  a  retailer  so  long,  will  know  better  what  the  retail 
trade  wants  than  do  seven-eighths  of  the  jobbers. 

But  he  is  very  greatly  deceived,  and  deceived  in 
every  point.  In  the  first  place  he  does  not  buy  as  well 
as  do  the  wholesalers.  "No  doubt  the  drummers  who 
sell  him  are  ready  to  swear  that  they  are  giving  him 
the  bottom  prices,  but  the  jobber  buys  of  the  manu- 
facturer, and  no  manufacturer  would  dare  to  sell  five 
dozen  of  an  article  as  cheap  as  he  would  sell  five  hun- 
dred dozen.  Country  merchants  accept  as  tacts  a 
great  many  things  which  are  not  true. 

That  he  can  command  a  larger  money  capital  than 
many  successful  jobbing  houses  are  started  upon,  may 


222  ON   THE    TtOAD   TO    RICHES. 

be  true;  but  the  money  is  only  a  small  part  of  the 
capital;  experience  in  the  jobbing  trade,  or  a  large 
country  acquaintance,  is  of  equal  value  with  cash. 
Goods  can  be  bought  with  money,  but  to  sell  them 
one  must  know  how. 

That  he  can  command  a  large  trade  in  his  section 
of  the  country,  is  one  of  the  forms  of  deceiving  one's 
self  that  we  are  all  liable  to  fall  into;  but  it  would  be 
very  unwise  to  have  any  paper  discounted  on  the 
strength  of  it.  It  will  not  bear  experience.  It  is 
doubtful  if  he  was  ever  heard  of  more  than  twenty 
miles  away  from  his  own  town,  and  the  smaller  coun- 
try merchants  will  be  slow  to  believe  that  he  is  half 
as  big  a  man  as  he  fancies  himself  te  be.  We  do  not 
generally  help  our  neighbors  to  go  above  us. 

His  experience  in  the  retail  trade  is  of  value  to 
him,  surely,  but  not  to  the  extent  he  imagines.  The 
jobber  buys  goods  for  more  counties  than  one. 
"What  will  sell  readily  in  one  is  dead  stock  in  the 
other.  He  buys  for  each  section,  and  knows  just 
the  kind  of  goods  to  buy.  Our  friend  from  the  coun- 
try knows  nothing  of  the  territory  except  his  own 
town,  and  he  need  never  expect  to  grow  rich  from  the 
trade  of  one  county  unless  he  has  the  retail  trade. 

I  have  in  mind  a  firm  composed  of  three  brothers 
who  were  doing  business  in  a  small  city  in  a  western 
state,  and  had  been  very  successful.  At  the  end  of  a 
number  of  years  they  had  accumulated  some  twenty 
or  thirty  thousand  dollars.  As  one  result  of  their 
success,  their  city  was  too  small  for  them;  they 
felt  that  they   were  competent  to  manage   a   larger 


LETTING   WELL-ENOUGH    ALONE.  22.°* 

business  in  a  more  extensive  field.  They  selected  a 
city  having  every  advantage  for  jobbing,  and  visited 
it  with  the  idea  of  seeing  if  there  was  an  opening  for 
another  jobbing  house  in  the  line  they  were  in.  Let 
us  suppose  their  line  was  hardware.  Of  course  they 
could  not  go  to  the  hardware  houses  for  information, 
and  no  one  else  knew  just  how  good  or  bad  a  condi- 
tion that  business  was  in.  They  enquired  of  a  grocer. 
So  long  as  they  were  not  going  into  his  business  it  was 
for  his  interest  to  have  them  come.  He  gave  a  rose-col- 
ored view  of  the  hardware  trade,  and  told  them  he  had 
no  doubt  another  hardware  house  would  do  well ;  the  no- 
tion men  said  the  same,  and  they  determined  to  move. 
They  rented  a  room,  arranged  shelving,  etc.,  and 
then  went  East  to  buy  goods.  When  the  stock  was 
on  the  shelves  they  courted  trade.  Their  prices  were 
too  high.  They  had  forgotten  how  they  used  to  buy. 
Merchants  laughed  at  their  quotations,  and  said  they 
could  do  so  and  so  among  the  older  houses.  "But," 
cried  the  astonished  jobber,  "we  paid  more  than  that!" 
"Can't  help  that,"  was  the  answer.  But  it  was  the 
truth.  The  goods  named  were  staple  goods,  and  were 
sold  at  a  profit  of  less  than  five  per  cent.,  and  our 
friends,  not  having  bought  of  the  largest  manufactur- 
ers, were  not  able  to  meet  such  prices.  It  was  the 
same  in  other  goods.  They  did  not  know  how  to  buy 
as  jobbers,  and  did  not  know  how  to  sell  as  jobbers. 
They  were  men  of  sense,  and  saw  the  point.  After  a 
six  months'  trial  they  packed  up  their  goods  and 
went  back  to  their  old  town,  poorer  by  a  good  many 
thousand  dollars  than  when  they  left  it. 


224  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    EICHES. 

This  is  but  one  case  among  many  that  I  could  re- 
call. And  very  few  men  can  regain  their  old  trade, 
even  if  they  leave  the  city  before  their  money  is  gone. 
Their  old  customers  will  have  become  customers  of 
other  men,  and  cannot  be  easily  recalled. 

Another  way  of  letting  well-enough  alone  is  in  your 
manner  of  living. 

If  you  are  doing  well,  and  living  in  comfortable 
quarters,  do  not  conclude  that  you  will  be  benefited, 
either  socially  or  in  a  business  way,  by  "  putting  on 
style."  It  may  show  your  neighbors  that  yon  are 
getting  rich,  and  it  may  induce  some  new  men  to 
start  a  competing  store. 

There  are  a  great  many  men  in  business  for  them- 
selves, and  doing  business  for  others,  who  began  as  some- 
body's porter.  They  deserve  the  fullest  credit  for  their 
success,  and  they  have  improved  their  opportunities 
since  so  that  they  have  become  educated  gentlemen. 
There  are  other  merchants  who  began  as  porters,  and 
remain  porters,  though  they  are  in  business  for  them- 
selves. Their  idea  of  being  gentlemen  is  to  build  a 
fine  mansion,  have  a  coachman,  be  lavish  with  wine 
and  cigars,  and  thus  become,  almost  imperceptibly, 
one  of  the  highflyers  of  fashion,  and  themselves  and 
their  families  accepted  as  aristocracy.  We  all  know 
scores  of  such  men  as  these  in  our  own  neighborhood. 
It  is  true  they  do  not  long  occupy  their  handsome 
houses;  the  lack  of  brains  that  led  to  the  display  soon 
works  the  cure;  and  when  next  you  hear  of  them 
they  are  occupying  small  houses  on  side  streets,  for 
which  they  pay  rent. 


LETTING    WELL-ENOTTGE    Al 

In  nothing  is  it  more  profitable  to  "go  slow"  than 
in  taking  money  out  of  a  business  to  build  either  a 
Btore-room  or  a  residence.  Of  the  store-room  I  have 
written  before,  but  I  am  not  sure  that  ambitious  res- 
idences  are  not  even  worse.  A  store-room  does  not 
compel  expensive  clerks,  but  an  ambitious  residence 
necessitates  ambitious  appointments.  "Fools  build 
houses,  and  wise  men  live  in  them,"  was  not  intended 
merely  to  refer  to  the  building,  but  struck  deeper  than 
that. 

Think  twice — yes,  twenty  times — before  you  move 
from  your  present  room.  No  matter  if  your  present 
place  is  not  in  the  most  fashionable  quarter.  You 
are  doing  well  there;  your  customers  know  where  to 
find  you,  and  there  is  risk  that  in  moving  you  may 
lose  some  of  them,  while  there  is  no  certainty  that 
others  will  supply  their  places.  Stick  where  you  arc 
until  you  know — absolutely  know — that  you  can  lose 
nothing,  and  may  gain  by  changing. 

If  you  are  desirous  of  making  a  change  among  your 
clerks,  or  in  your  way  of  doing  business,  or  in  the 
amount  of  your  business,  do  not  haul  up  your  an- 
chor until  you  are  sure  the  gale  is  settled.  In  other 
words,  do  not  let  go  of  the  old  until  you  have  tested 
the  new  men,  or  the  new  plan. 


15 


226  ON   THE   ROAD   TO   KICTIES. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

I'.!  SI  NESS    LOSSES. 

Every  man  commencing  business  lias  to  face  the 
possibility  of  not  commanding  enough  trade  to  enable 
him  to  pay  his  expenses,  paid  thus  having  his  capital 
drawn  away  from  him;  or,  if  he  does  a  long  credit 
business,  of  seeing  his  profits  and  capital  slip  through 
his  fingers  by  making  bad  debts.  In  my  chapter 
about  drummers,  I  endeavored  to  show  that  many  of 
them  were  willing  to  take  chances  when  the  chances 
were  decidedly  against  their  own  houses.  The  men 
who  make  bad  debts  are  usually  those  who  are  anx- 
ious to  make  the  largest  sales,  just  for  the  sake  of 
boasting  of  their  sales — doing  business  for  glory,  as  it 
is  called.  The  men  who  do  business  for  the  sake  of  the 
profit  they  may  make  are  more  accustomed  to  scan 
the  underpinning  upon  which  their  customers  are 
trading,  and  are  wise  enough  to  take  no  chances. 
Yet  the  shrewdest  man  must  expect  to  have  losses, 
though  he  scan  never  so  closely.  This  being  the  case, 
he  should  avail  himself  of  every  means  of  acquiring 
information  about  his  trade,  and  should  estimate  a  fair 
percentage  to  cover  the  losses  of  the  year. 

I  am  sure  I  cannot  imagine  how  our  predecessors 
were  able  to  get  along  without  the  aid  of  mercantile 


BUSINESS  LOSSES.  227 

•agencies.     I  know  that  they  are  a  necessity  among busi- 
ness men  of   to-day,  and   that  they  are   invaluable. 

Perhaps  they  are  not  so  perfect  as  they  might  be,  but 
they  are  so  perfect  that  no  business  man  doing  a 
wholesale  'rule  can  do  without  them.  They  are  not 
to  be  implicitly,  relied  upon,  but  as  a  guide,  an  assis- 
tant, they  are  the  merchant's  best  friend.  A  stran- 
ger comes  into  your  store;  announces  himself  as 
Smith,  of  Blue  Lick;  wants  to  buy  a  bill  of  goods; 
will  pay  part  cash,  and  wants  a  little  time  on  the  bal- 
ance. You  don't  know  him,  and  know  no  one  to 
whom  yon  can  refer.  You  can't  say  to  him:  "  "Well, 
Mr.  Smith,  I  will  write  .to  some  one,  somewhere,  to 
enquire  about  you;  and  if  the  answer  is  satisfactory 
I  will  sell  you.  Come  in  in  two  or  three  days 
and  I  will  let  you  know."  You  must  decide  at  once. 
Your  reference  book  is  handy.  You  turn  to  the  State, 
then  run  your  eye  down  to  Blue  Lick.  Here  it  is:  A, 
B,  C — ah  !  yes,  here  he  is:  Zerubabel  Smith,  General 
Store;  worth  from  $2,000  to  $5,000,  and  in  good 
credit.  "While  you  have  been  looking  at  this  you  have 
been  chatting  with  him  about  business,  and  he  may 
know  what  your  book  is,  and  he  may  not.  As  you 
close  it  you  say  you  are  ready  to  sell  him,  and  you 
proceed  to  show  him  your  goods  and  take  his  order. 
"When  you  are  through  with  him,  }Tou  pick  up  :i 
blank  form  left  you  by  the  agency,  which  you  pro- 
ceed to  fill  out.  After  you  are  through  with  it,  it 
wilbread  something  like  this: 


22S  ON   TUE   ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

Give  US  in  confidence,  and  for  our  exclusive  use  and  benefit  in  onr 
business,  via.:  that  of  aiding  us  to  determine  the  propriety  of 
giving  credit,  whatever  information  you. have  respecting  the 
standing,  responsibility,  &c,  of 

Name, (Qe4U'6<z<Ue'C    ^^nc'/A, 

Business, jZ?eMe4-ez4    (&la<t-e/ 

Town, g$^e    ^l, 

County, c/<i<n.  €^et, 


State, 


ti-a. 


cA-i    &■    <^?vue-e'£,    Subscribers. 


&g* Subscribers  to  sign  the  above  themselves. 


Toledo,   <<=fe4t^.    so/d,    1880. 


This  your  clerk  carries  to  the  office  of  the  Agency, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  returns  with  a  detailed  report, 
which  may  read  as  follows:  After  reciting  that  you 
are  to  use  the  information  for  your  own  exclusive  bene- 
fit, it  goes  on  to  say  that  Z.  Smith,  of  Blue  Lick,  is  40 
years  of  age,  married,  honest,  temperate  and  economi- 
cal; has  been  in  business  ten  years,  is  making  money, 
and  is  a  safe  man  to  trust  for  such  bills  as  his  business 
requires.     Probably  worth  clear  $4,000. 

When  Mr.  Smith  comes  back  for  his  bill  you  press 
him  to  send  you  his  orders,  and  slyly  intimate  that 
you  are  willing  to  trust  him,  though  he  is  a  compara- 
tive stranger  to  you,  because  you  "know  an  honest 
man  when  you  see  him!"  As  some  one  says — "  We 
are  all  poor  creatures  " — I  guess  it  was  the  Widow  Be- 


229 

dott; — she  must  have  been  acquainted  with  a  whole 
merchant. 

As  I  have  said,  any  man  doing  a  credit  business 
with  merchants  or  manufacturers  outside  of  his  own 
town  or  city  cannot  afford  to  refuse  the  aid  of  these 
agencies.  There  are  several  of  them  in  the  field.  I 
suppose  each  one  of  them  is  considered  the  best  by 
its  own  patrons. 

There  is  an  effort  being  made  to  organize  societies 
for  the  protection  of  retailers.  These  societies  are  at 
work  in  some  few  places,  but  the  experiment  cannot 
be  called  a  success  as  yet.  Retailers  are  unable  to 
refer  to  a  book  and  see  if  John  Smith  is  worthy  of 
credit  or  not.  They  have  to  take  their  chances  — 
either  to  refuse  him  credit,  and  perhaps  drive  away 
what  might  be  a  good  customer,  or  take  the  risk  on 
him,  and  perhaps  lose  the  amount.  A  class  of  nun 
obtain  a  living  by  opening-  an  account  where  they  can 
get  credit,  and  trading  as  long  as  they  can,  then  shift- 
ing their  valuable  custom  to  another  store,  and  so  on. 
The  agency  of  which  I  speak  collects  a  list  of  had 
debts  from  each  merchant,  prints  it,  and  then  semis  a 
copy  to  each  subscriber.  When  a  man  asks  credit 
the  merchant  refer-  to  his  list,  sees  that  the  would-be 
customer  already  owes  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry,  and 
refuses  to  "walk  into  his  parlor." 

The  class  of  retailers  who  suffer  most  by  doing  a 

general    credit  business    are    those   who    think    they 

must  give   everybody   credit,    or  no  one.     They    do 

not     have     the     ability      to    say      "  No"      at      the 

proper  time.      I  am  satisfied  that    there  is  always 


230  ON  THE   ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

more  money  to  be  made  by  doing  a  judicious  credit 
trade,  but  the  man  must  be  fitted  for  the  place.  He 
must  be  able  to  say  No,  when  "no"  is  the  proper 
thing  to  say. 

Those  who  trust  everybody  will  surely  come  to  grief. 
Men  starting  in  business,  knowing  their  own  charac- 
ter, must  decide  which  they  are  fitted  for — credit  or 
cash  trade.     If  they  hate  to  refuse  a  friend  a  favor,  if 
it  is  their  disposition  to  take  chances,  their  only  safe 
way  is  to  do  a  strictly  cash    business.     But   I  have 
never  been  able  to  see  why  Jones  should  be  refused 
credit,  when  we  know  him  to  be  as  honest  and  honora- 
ble as  the  day  is  long,  just  because  you  might  have 
to  trust  Smith,  who    never    was    known    to  pay  an 
account.     Credit  business  m  a  retail  store  should  be 
like  credit  m  a  wholesale  store — only  for  good  men. 
But  in  spite  of  all  precautions  you  will  be  called 
upon  to  mourn  over  more  or  less  failures.     It  is  not 
pleasant  news,  no   matter  how  it  comes.      The  boy 
from  the  agency  may  hand  you  the  strip  from  which 
you    read:      So-and-So,  of  Buck  Creek,  were  to-day 
closed  by  the  sheriff.     Liabilities  are  said  to  be  about 
85,000;    assets  small.      You  begin  to  think:  So-and- 
So — why,  confound  them,  you  sent  them  some  goods 
only  last  week!     How  much  do  they  owe  us?    you  in- 
quire of  your  book-keeper.     Only  one  hundred  dol- 
lars ?      Well,  it's  lucky  it  is  no  more;    and  you  won- 
der who  else  are  among  the  victims. 

A  day  or  two  afterward  some  of  the  Buck  Creek  firm 
come  down  to  see  you;  tell  their  story;  and  are  wil- 
ling-to  settle  for  30  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  that  is  the 


BUSINESS   LOSSES.  231 

best  offer  tlicy  will  make.  If  you  are  a  wise  man  you 
will  accept  it  at  once;  take  the  $30,  and  give  them  a  quit 
claim.  1  never  knew  a  man  to  increase  his  offer;  I 
have  known  of  hundreds  who  reduced  their  offers 
when  they  were  not  promptly  accepted.  An  honest 
man  invariably  thinks  he  will  get  more  out  of  his 
stock  and  accounts  than  the  end  will  justify.  A  dis- 
honest man  knows  that  he  will  betray  himself  it'he 
varies  from  his  lirst  proposition. 

I  suppose  there  are  a  great  many  men  whose  names 
grace  the  list  of  failures,  who  failed  because  they  made 
money  by  the  operation;  but  in  all  my  business  ex- 
perience I  am  unable  to  recall  an  instance  where  I 
believed  the  unfortunate  creditor  had  been  dishonest. 
I  could  see  that  one  had  sunk  his  capital  in  a  building 
and  been  dragged  down  by  it;  another  had  overstocked 
himself  with  goods,  and  in  attempting  to  work  them 
off  had  sacrificed  himself;  still  another  had  been  too 
good  natured  about  trusting  out  goods  and  was  un- 
able to  collect;  others  had  been  ruined  by  rum,  or 
whiskey,  or  women;  and  one  man,  through  whom  I 
lost  a  bill,  was  made  bankrupt  by  betting  on  an  elec- 
tion, lie  sold  goods  on  the  conditions  that  if  the 
next  Governor  of  Indiana  was  a  Republican  the  goods 
were  not  to  be  paid  for,  but  if  he  was  a  Democrat  he 
was  to  have  twice  the  regular  retail  price.  He 
cleaned  out  his  stock  in  this  way,  and  the  next  Gover- 
nor was  a  Republican.  That  merchant's  career  was 
ended. 

Another  victim,  or  rather  a  victimizer,  with  whom 
I  was  interested,  was  a  merchant  in  a  small  town  in 


232  ON    THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

Ohio,  who  started  business  with  a  capital  of  $500. 
He  did  tolerably  well  for  a  year  or  two,  and  then  put 
up  a  house  worth  $2,500.  When  I  went  to  look  at 
his  circumstances,  I  found  the  house  was  mortgaged  for 
all  that  it  would  sell  for,  and  the  man  satisfied  that 
he  had  done  a  sharp  thing-.  He  said  he  had  been  able 
to  collect  a  good  many  old  bills  by  having  the  house 
built;  that  he  had  got  back  on  the  mortgage  all  the 
money  he  had  put  in,  and  that  the  interest  w^as  no 
more  than  the  rent  he  had  been  paying.  He  settled 
with  his  creditors  by  honestly  turning  over  to  them 
everything  he  had,  and  we  divided  five  cents  on  the 
dollar.     So  much  for  his  brilliant  operation. 

I  do  not  believe  in  grinding  down  an  unfortunate 
creditor,  if  his  failure  is  shown  to  have  come  through 
causes  he  could  not  control.  We  do  not  know  the  day 
or  the  hour  we  may  sutler  from  some  such  cause  our- 
selves, and  it  is  pleasant  to  think  that  "the  merciful  shall 
have  mercy."  There  are  many  things  not  under  our 
own  control;  an  ill  wind  may  start  from  some  out-of- 
the-way  corner  and  sweep  away  the  labor  of  years. 
But  when  a  man  fails  through  incompetency  or  dis- 
honesty, it  is  the  duty  of  his  creditors  to  wipe  him  out 
of  existence.  There  should  be  no  compromise  with 
such  men.  You  owe  a  duty  to  the  men  who  pay  in 
full,  to  the  men  who  are  honest,  and  you  can  fulfil  this 
only  by  taking  away  from  competition  against  them 
men  who  are  ignorant  and  tricky. 

The  worst  competition  in  the  world  is  that  of  an 
incompetent  man.  Tou  do  not  know  where  to  find 
him.     His  prices  are  one  thing  to-day  and  another 


BUSINESS   LOSSES.  233 

thing  to-morrow.  One  week  lie  has  the  best  goods 
made,  and  the  next  he  is  full  of  seconds.  Of  course 
his  end  is  inevitable,  but  while  he  lasts  he  cuts  the 
vitals  of  trade.  When  such  a  man  fails  he  ought  to  be 
promptly  wiped  out.  BCe  deserves  no  mercy,  for 
mercy  to  him  is  punishment  to  all  his  competitors. 

Here  is  a  man  who  ran  through  one  hundred  thous- 
and dollars  in  three  years;  his  losses  were  not  large 
in  any  one  thing.  He  bought  goods  when  wise  men 
were  afraid  to  buy;  he  sold  everyone  who  would  buy; 
he  continued  to  put  on  "  style n  when  he  knew  his 
business  was  running  behind  every  year.  At  last 
the  end  came:  he  reached  the  end  of  his  rope  and 
called  in  his  creditors.  An  able  lawyer  plead  his 
case  (for  a  liberal  fee);  and  the  creditors  comprom- 
ised with  him  at  so  many  cents  on  the  dollar.  Now 
where  was  this  man  deserving  of  mercy  ?  The  past 
showed  his  lack  of  ability  and  want  of  judgment  ; 
wanting  these  he  had  failed,  but  when  his  creditors 
compromised  with  him  they  virtually  gave  him  capi- 
tal to  start  again.  The^y  appeared  to  take  the  ground 
that  his  failure  would  teach  him  a  lesson,  and  that  he 
might  do  better  thereafter.  But  while  failures  wipe 
out  indebtedness  they  do  not  give  a  man  brains;  these 
are  a  thing  that  do  aol  grow  in  a  night. 

I  am  notable  to  see  how  any  honest  man,  who  tails 
and  afterwards  comes  on  his  feet  again,  can  look  upon 
the  old  debts  as  debts  forgiven  him.  They  were  set- 
tled because  he  was  unfortunate,  but  there  is  no  honest 
way  of  paying  a  debt  "in  full  "except  by  one  hundred 
cents   on  the  dollar.      I  am  aware  that  the  law  dues 


234:  ON   THE   KOAD    TO    RICHES. 

not  oblige  him,  but  I  am  unable  to  see  where  justice 
and  honor  allow  it.  A  just  debt  is  binding,  and  is 
never  honestly  outlawed  by  any  trick  or  theory.  I 
can  think  of  no  disgrace  greater  than  to  see  a  rich 
man  pointed  out  as  one  who  failed  and  paid  but  a  few 
cents  on  the  dollar,  and  never  paid  the  balance.  I 
sympathize  with  him  who  failed,  lost  all  he  had,  and 
never  recovered  from  the  failure.  I  honor  the  man 
who  failed,  rose  again,  and  then  paid  the  old  debts 
that  were  justly,  but  not  legally,  binding  upon  him 
to  pay. 


MIND    YOUR    OWN    BUSINESS.  23i 


CHAPTER     XXXIII. 

MIND  YOUR  OWN  BUSINESS. 

Peter  C.  Brooks,  of  Boston,  who  left  one  of  the 
largest  fortunes  ever  amassed  in  that  city,  was  once 
asked  what  rule  he  would  recommend  to  a  young 
man  as  most  likely  to  ensure  success  in  mercantile  life, 
and  his  answer  was:  "Let  him  mind  his  own  busi- 
ness." 

"During  my  commercial  career,"  says  Girard,  "I 
have  noticed  that  no  advantage  results  from  telling 
one's  business  to  others,  except  to  create  jealousy  or 
competition  when  we  are  fortunate,  and  to  gratify  our 
enemies  when  we  are  otherwise." 

A  case  in  point  that  occurs  to  me  is  that  of  a  mer- 
chant who  was  dealing  largely  in  a  certain  article, 
and  making  a  handsome  income  out  of  his  sales.  To 
other  dealers  in  the  same  line  he  said  but  little  about 
his  business,  but  to  dealers  in  other  branches  he  was 
continually  mentioning  his  large  profits  and  easy 
sales.  The  article  in  question  was  one  that  might  work 
iu  easily  in  any  branch  of  trade,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  some  of  the  dealers  who  heard  his  stories  took 
the  subject  into  consideration,  as  to  whether  they 
could  not  add  this  department  to  their  stock,  and  the 
next  season  there  were  three  new  competitors  in  this 


23G  ON   THE   ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

line  of  goods.  The  result  of  the  increased  competi- 
tion was  to  cut  down  the  profits  very  materially,  and 
to  destroy  the  trade  that  the  first  merchant  had  count- 
ed upon  as  his  own. 

Competition  in  business  is  not  always  an  evil — in- 
deed, it  is  often  a  positive  good.  I  have  known  men 
who  were  glad  to  assist  young  men  to  open  a  store  in 
their  line,  just  that  there  might  be  competition,  and 
that  purchasers  would  not  feel  that  they  had  to  buy  in 
one  place.  Competition  does  not  always  mean  a  low- 
ering of  prices.  The  man  who  cuts  down  prices, 
thinking  he  can  sell  all  the  goods  by  it,  is  not  a  man 
of  sense.  But  competition  pushes  men  to  greater 
exertions,  and  they  generally  find  that  the  rival,  whose 
opening  they  so  much  dreaded,  has  really  been  a  ben- 
efit to  them. 

"  When  I  was  a  young  man,"  said  an  old  merchant, 
"  I  set  up  in  the  hat  trade,  and  took  a  store  in  the 
city  where  there  was  not  a  hat  store  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  me,  thinking  I  would  do  more 
where  there  were  no  others;  but  I  found  that,  at  the 
end  of  the  year,  all  that  I  made  was  a  very  small 
amount  of  money.  I  went  down  town,  and,  looking 
around,  found  that  two  or  three  hatters  were  driving  a 
very  good  trade  very  near  each  other,  and  passing  into 
one  store  I  found  its  owner  a  very  talkative  man.  "We 
put  our  heads  together,  and,  in  the  course  of  a  week, 
the  store  directly  opposite  his  received  my  stock  in 
trade,  with  a  coat  of  blue  paint  on  the  outside,  while 
his  received  a  coat  of  green. 

"  The  first  day  I  did  nothing  but  stand  at  the  door 


MIND    TOUR    OWN    BUSINESS.  237 

and  look  pouty  at  the  green  store,  and  my  friend 
Blake  stood  on  las  steps  looking  ditto  at  mc.  As 
people  came  in  I  commenced  running  down  tin-  green 
store,  and  Blake  always  ran  the  bine,  bo  between  d 

built  up  a  trade  that  was  quite  respectable.  People 
having  taken  sides,  and  new-comers  always  purchasing 
of  one  or  the  other,  we  gradually  grew  rich,  and  at 
the  end  of  some  dozen  years  we  settled  up,  and  I  found 
that  opposition  had  made  my  fortune." 

In  this  story  the  "  running  down  "  process  seems 
to  have  been  successful,  but  I  doubt  if  it  is  a  good  one 
to  follow.  I  never  cared  to  advertise  my  competitors, 
and  I  know  of  no  better  advertisement  than  to  begin 
running  them  down.  In  buying  goods  I  was  often 
posted  by  foolish  drummers  when  they  had  no  inten- 
tion of  doing  it.  A  man  seeks  your  trade,  offers  you 
prices  that  are  satisfactory,  and  as  low  as  any  you  have 
had,  and  assures  you  that  he  will  give  you  bottom 
prices,  adding  that  he  will  always  meet  So-and-So  and 
Company's  figures.  This  is  a  firm  with  whom  you 
had  not  dealt,  but  you  make  a  mental  memorandum 
of  the  name,  and  know  that  they  must  be  a  house  that 
quote  low  prices,  or  the  drummer  would  not  have 
mentioned  them.  You  drop  them  a  line,  ask  for 
quotations,  and  find  that  they  are  ready  to  give  3*011 
some  concessions,  and  your  next  order  is  sent  to  them. 

The  merchant  who  does  not  mention  names  gener- 
ally  holds   his  trade   the  longest.      One  of  the  most 
successful  salesmen  I  ever  knew  claimed  that  his  suc- 
cess was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  knew  no  other  hou 
in  his  line  of  goods  but  his  own.     "  "When  a  customer 


28S  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    RICHES. 

mentions  one  of  my  competitors,"  said  he,  "  I  try  to 
look  as  if  the  name  was  not  a  familiar  one,  and  I  never 
acknowledge  to  knowing  anything  about  the  house 
except  a  few  vague  generalities.  My  customers  say 
to  themselves  that  the  other  house  cannot  be  a  very 
important  one  or  I  would  know  more  about  them,  and 
I  am  willing  they  should  have  that  impression." 

Boasting  of  what  you  will  do  is  as  unwise  as  to  ad- 
vertise your  prosperity.  If  your  plans  are  good  ones 
some  one  else  will  catch  them  up  and  be  in  the  field  in 
time  to  divide  the  advantage  with  you.  If  they  are 
not  good,  you  may  be  certain  no  one  will  point  out 
the  errors  in  them,  so  that  you  cannot  possibly  gain 
aught  by  your  communicativeness.  The  men  who 
listen  well,  and  are  not  in  haste  to  impart  their  own  se- 
crets, are  the  ones  who  generally  get  along  in  the  world. 

"While  a  man's  clerks  should  have  full  knowledge  of 
his  business,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  telling  them  too 
much.  That  they  should  know  of  ups  and  downs  in  the 
market  is  certain,  because  the  better  posted  a  clerk  is  the 
the  better  salesman  he  will  be;  but  it  is  not  necessary  to 
go  to  him  with  affairs  which  do  not  come  under  his  su- 
pervision and  upon  which  his  advice  is  worth  nothing. 
On  the  contrary,  if  you  have  certain  ways  of  doing 
business,  know  of  good  ways  of  holding  trade  or  of 
buying  cheap,  or  of  collecting,  it  is  for  your  interest  to 
keep  this  information  to  yourself,  and  not  put  it  in 
possession  of  a  clerk  who  may  leave  you  to-morrow. 

Minding  one's  own  business  means  also  to  be  thor- 
oughly posted  about  that  business.  Every  branch  of 
trade  has  its  own  journal  to-day,  and  the  merchant,  be 


MIND   YOUK   OWN    BUSINESS.  239 

he  retailer  or  wholesaler,  who  neglects  to  avail  himself 
of  these  nelps  lb  aota  very  far-seeing  man.     Week  in 

and  week  out  these  journals  < ie  to  you,  and  bring 

the  latest  intelligence  to  be  gained  about  actual  or 
prospective  changes  in  prices.  Drummers  may 
prophesy  higher  prices,  but  here  is  your  paper  pre- 
dicting otherwise,  and  you  are  not  tempted  into  making 
an  order.  A  trade  journal  is  an  absolute  necessity,  if 
one  is  anxious  to  do  his  best.  It  is  not  money  thrown 
away,  but  money  invested  in  buying  goods,  and  pays 
a  very  large  dividend. 

And  if  you  are  careful  to  attend  to  your  own,  and 
not  to  your  neighbor's  business,  you  will  not  be 
requested  to  endorse  for  him,  or  if  you  are  requested 
you  will  not  have  much  difficulty  in  saying  no.  Let 
no  feeling  of  friendship  tempt  you  to  incur  the  chance 
of  failure  just  because  you  dislike  to  refuse.  The  man 
who  asks  you  to  endorse  will  not  be  hurt  by  a  refusal 
one-tenth  part  as  much  as  you  fancy  he  will.  He  has 
been  debating  in  his  own  mind  whether  you  will  refuse 
or  not,  and  is  as  much  prepared  for  the  one  as  the  other. 
The  fact  that  he  needs  an  endorser  is  very  good  evi- 
dence that  you  should  not  endorse  for  him.  Don't 
allow  the  plea  that  "it  is  only  a  form"  to  affect  you. 
You  may  find  that  it  is  a  very  binding  "form,"  and 
one  that  you  cannot  escape  from. 

Why  should  you  risk  your  own  success  merely  to 
oblige  a  man  who  is  nothing  but  an  acquaintance?  It 
is  worse  than  foolishness;  it  is  a  crime.  I  heartily 
re-echo  Mr.  Brooks'  rule:  if  a  man  wants  to  succeed 
as  a  merchant,  let  him  mind  his  own  business. 


2-40  ON   THE   ROAD   TO    RICHES. 


CHAPTER    XXXIY. 

A  BUSINESS  MAN'S  RECREATIONS. 

TTiien  one  has  got  well  started  in  business,  has  the 
"  machine"  in  perfect  working  order,  holds  the  valve  in 
his  own  hands  so  that  he  feels  every  throb,  and  knows 
that  a  little  more  or  a  little  less  effort  on  his  own  part 
will  be  answered  immediately  by  increased  or  de- 
creased profits;  it  is  an  exceeding  hard  thing  to  get 
him  to  believe  that  it  is  possible,  or  that  it  would  be 
wise,  for  him  to  leave  these  duties  for  an  hour,  unless 
he  leaves  them  for  a  matter  of  greater  moment  con- 
nected with  the  business.  "We  are  all  apt  to  fall  into 
ruts,  and  it  is  as  difficult  to  get  out  of  the  rut  of  close 
application,  as  it  is  to  get  out  of  the  rut  of  indolence. 
But  I  am  satisfied  by  experience  and  observation  that 
one  of  the  highest  duties  a  business  man  owes  to  him- 
self is  to  give  his  busy  brain  an  occasional  rest  from 
buying  and  selling,  planning  and  doing. 

There  is  a  deal  more  in  life  than  just  adding  to  one's 
bank  account.  There  is  more  honor  to  be  gained  in 
doing  a  man's  duty  as  a  citizen,  than  by  simply  doing 
nothing  else  but  growing  rich.  One  may  be  well  up 
in  all  that  concerns  his  business,  direct  and  indirect, 
and  yet  be  out  of  all  knowledge  of  the  great  world.  I 
heard  a  man  say  of  another  man:     "  He  is  worth  a 


A   BUSINESS   man's    EtEOREATIONB.  -II 

hundred  thousand  dollars,  but  he  can  talk  on  nothing 
but  the  grain  business,  while  I  have  no  interest  in  the 
grain  business  whatever." 

Now,  I  think  a  man  should  he  able  to  talk  of  some- 
thing besides  his  business,  and  among  the  first  of  a 
business  man's  recreations  I  would  place  that  of  read- 
ing the  daily  papers.  The  popular  educator  of  to-day 
is  neither  the  teacher,  the  orator,  nor  the  minister; — 
it  is  the  public  press.  The  best  thoughts  of  the  best 
men  are  daily  sent  broadcast  to  offices,  and  stores,  and 
homes;  and  he  who  reads  with  regularity  finds  him- 
self interested  to-day  in  one  topic,  to-morrow  in  an- 
other, and  so  on  until  his  paper  is  full  of  pleasant 
threads  that  he  takes  up  from  day  to  day,  and 
forgets  his  business  while  he  is  interested  in 
humanity. 

And  I  think  it  almost  invariably  happens  that  he  who 
reads  the  papers  with  pleasure  soon  finds  himself  turn- 
in"-  to  magazines  and  books  with  keen  relish.  I  think 
the  course  of  study  in  this  college  of  life  has  the  daily 
papers  for  its  first  text-books;  then  come  the  maga- 
zines, and  following  these  are  books.  He  who  does 
not  know  the  great  world  that  dwells  between  book- 
covers  has  yet  to  see  much  more  of  life  than  he  can 
ever  by  any  possibility  find  in  his  own  experience 
with  men. 

Said  one  of  the  largest  dealers  in  New  York  to  me: 
"  I  never  carry  my  business  beyond  my  store-door; 
when  1  go  home,  I  go  to  a  place  where  business  docs  not 
enter;  my  library  has  all  the  charm  for  me  in  the  even- 
ing that  my  counting-room  has  during  the  day,  and 

16 


212  ON   THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

when  I  go  to  the  store  mornings  I  do  not  feel  already 
tired  with  working  out  plans  in  the  night." 

I  have  great  respect  for  the  maxims  that  come  down 
to  us  gray  with  age,  and  among  them  all  I  know  of  none 
worthier  of  being  acted  upon  than  that  which  says: 
"  All  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  hoy."  And 
every  business  man  knows  that  dulness  is  not  what 
makes  trade.  The  man  who  starts  his  morning 
work  with  an  elastic  step  and  a  fresh  brain,  will  out-sell 
and  out-buy  the  one  who  comes  plodding  down  the 
street  with  heavy  head,  wherein  last  night's  figures 
played  hide-and-seek  with  rest  and  sleep.  During 
most  of  the  year  there  are  many  avenues  opened  by 
which  men  may  be  led  to  forget  their  cares  for  an 
hour.  I  always  hesitate  about  recommending  men  to 
go  to  the  theater;  not  because  I  have  ever  seen  any 
good  reason  why  they  should  not  go,  but  because  many 
very  good  people  are  satisfied  in  their  minds  that  such 
advice  is  not  good.  But  if  there  is  one  class  of  peo- 
ple more  than  another  whom  theaters  cannot  harm? 
that  class  is  the  driving,  pushing  business  men.  For 
them  I  recommend  the  evening  at  the  theater,  concert 
or  opera. 

The  man  who  is  in-doors  so  much  as  every  business 
man  must  be,  ought  to  find  errands  of  work  or  pleasure 
that  will  take  him  into  the  open  air.  I  have  a  hearty 
feeling  of  companionship  with  the  apostle  who  said, 
"  I  20  a-fishing."  It  is  what  every  business  man 
should  say  of  himself  as  often  as  he  can  possibly  get 
away.  I  defy  the  man  to  carry  his  troubles  and  his 
fishing  rod   at  the  same   time;  the  two   cannot    go 


A    BUSINESS   MAN'S   RECREATIONS.  243 

together;  and  if  you  have  shouldered  your  rod,  your 
worries  must* wait  till  your  bait  is  exhausted,  <>r  till 
you  have  satisfied  yourself  that  fishes  will  not  bite  that 
day. 

Bui  the  crowning  pleasure  ought  to  be  to  put  away 
all  business,  pack-  your  valise  with  clothes  for  rough 
usage,  and  go  off  every  summer  for  a  week's,  or  two 
weeks',  or  even  a  month's  vacation.  Blessed  are  they 
who  have  the  "old  farm"  to  go  to.  We  leave  it  in 
bo}*hood  as  if  we  were  leaving  prison,  hut  in  after 
life  it  means  to  us  all  that  the  city  does  not  give  us, 
and  we  turn  to  it  as  the  shipwrecked  sailor  turns  to  a 
friendly  call  in  the  dark.  Do  not  imagine  that  the 
business  will  surely  go  to  the  dogs  if  you  leave  it  for 
a  day.  If  you  have  been  thorough  with  your  men 
the  machine  will  go  evenly  and  smoothly  with  another 
hand  on  the  valve.  We  are  all  apt  to  flatter  ourselves 
that  we  are  doing  what  no  other  person  could  do,  but 
an  occasional  accident  shows  us  that  we  are  not  near- 
ly as  indispensable  as  we  suppose. 

I  knew  a  man  who  worked  sixteen  hours  a  day 
to  build  up  a  splendid  business;  every  part  of  it  was 
under  his  supervision,  and  nothing  important  was 
ever  allowed  to  be  done  until  it  had  his  sanction. 
J I  is  partner  was  not  a  common-place  man,  but  by 
common  consent  my  friend  was  given  credit  for  build- 
ing up  the  business  and  for  holding  it,  As  with 
many  such  men,  just  when  his  care  was  most  needed, 
he  was  stricken  down  with  disease  and  compelled  by 
liis  physician  to  leave  the  country  for  twelve  months. 
Everybody  lamented  with  him  and  for  him;  it  looked 


244  ON  THE   EOAD   TO    KICTTES. 

like  utter  ruin  to  his  business,  but  it  was  imperative 
that  he  should  go,  and  go  he  did. 

Yet  the  business  did  not  immediately  suffer;  those 
who  looked  to  see  it  sink  at  once  were  disappointed. 
Gradually  it  was  told  that  instead  of  decreasing  it  was 
holding  its  own,  and  eventually  that  it  was  increas- 
ing beyond  anything  the  firm  had  ever  done.  "When 
the  absentee  returned  with  recovered  health  he  found 
that  he  had  not  been  missed,  but  that  his  partner  had 
exhibited  powers  that  neither  of  them  had  guessed  at 
his  possessing. 

Oftentimes  we  do  not  give  the  clerk  beside  us  credit 
for  ability  that  he  possesses.  He  turns  to  us  for 
directions  until  we  suppose  him  to  be  merely  a  ma- 
chine for  carrying  out  our  will ;  yet  he  may  be  capable 
of  improving  vastly  on  our  ways.  One  of  my  neigh- 
bors left  his  book-keeper  in  charge  of  his  store  dur- 
ing an  absence  of  three  weeks,  and  on  his  return  was 
surprised  to  see  numberless  improvements  throughout 
the  room.  The  man  had  a  chance  to  carry  out  some 
of  his  own  ideas,  and  they  were  of  decided  help  to  the 
business. 

There  are  many  matters  of  busines  that  can  be  car- 
ried into  the  woods  with  us,  and  there  solved  out  to  a 
more  satisfactory  conclusion  than  could  ever  have 
been  accomplished  in  the  store.  One  of  the  prettiest 
designs  for  a  trade-mark  I  ever  saw  was  thought  out 
while  the  owner  was  leaning  against  an  old  apple  tree 
in  his  summer  vacation.  I  think  the  most  happily 
worded  circular  I  ever  read  was  gotten  up  while  the 
merchant    was   camping  in  the  Adirondacks,  where 


A   BUSINESS   man's    RE0REATT0N8.  245 

Lis  writing-desk  was  the  head  of  a  flour  barrel,  and 
his  paper  the  inside  of  some  once  used  envelopes. 

No,  you  can  make  no  greater  mistake  than  to 
suppose  that  every  hour  out  of  your  store  is  an 
hour  lost.  The  well  that  is  not  supplied  by  Bprings 
will  soon  run  dry,  and  no  one  of  us  contains  enough 
in  himself  to  make  up  all  that  a.  man  should  be.  If 
you  cannot  learn  something  from  contact  with  men 
outside  your  store,  you  are  not  a  healthy  man. 

But  do  not  confound  dissipation  or  debauchery 
under  the  head  of  recreations.  This  is  a  mistake 
which,  if  once  made,  leads  rapidly  to  ruin.  There  will 
be  temptations  without  number  placed  before  you; 
if  you  overwork  yourself  there  will  be  advisers  in 
plenty  who  will  suggest  a  tonic,  and  it  will  not  be 
long  till  your  own  weakness  will  crave  a  stimulant. 
Yet  you  cannot  afford  to  do  business  upon  any  such 
basis  as  this.  I  do  not  believe  that  every  man  who 
tastes  liquor  will  become  a  drunkard ;  experience  does 
not  show  any  such  result  as  this,  though  it  is  the 
statement  constantly  made  by  advocates  of  prohibi- 
tion; but  the  road  through  life  is  full  of  wrecks  of 
good  men  who  began  simply  with  a  "  tonic."  I  am  glad 
that  drunkenness  is  unfashionable;  the  restrictions  of 
society  are  bonds  that  none  of  us  cafe  lightly  to  break 
over;  and  when  men's  credit  is  scanned  closely,  the 
man  who  has  an  occasional  "bout"  is  not  marked  up 
higher  because  of  it,  nor  does  his  credit  get  strength- 
ened  by  it. 

I  think,  too,  that  it  is  no  longer  an  added  figure  to 
a  man's  credit  to  find  that  he  is  ua  little  wild."     The 


;.  .   ',  c\    THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

only  men  who  look  with  favor  upon  this  class  are  they 
who  are  companions  with  them  in  vice.  There  is 
close  scrutiny  made  of  men's  habits  and  pastimes,  and 
merchants  who  are  the  companions  of  women  of  the 
town  are  not  quoted  as  being  worthy  of  unlimited 
trust.  ISTo  greater  mistake  can  be  made  than  to  sup- 
pose that  "  one  man  is  as  good  as  another  so  long  as 
he  pays  his  bills."  This  is  not  true:  it  is  not  any 
where  near  the  truth.  The  man  who  respects  him- 
self, his  family,  society,  and  the  laws  of  God,  is  hon- 
ored of  men,  while  good  men  look  upon  the  debauchee 
with  contempt,  and  dread  the  effect  of  his  example 
upon  young  men  just  starting  in  life. 

The  only  pleasures  worthy  of  the  name,  and  that 
are  recreation,  are  pure  and  honest  pleasures,  and 
these  should  begin  and  end  in  your  home.  Success  in 
life  is  dearly  bought  if  it  does  not  mean  more  of  com- 
fort and  happiness  to  one's  home.  We  laugh  over  the 
merchant  who  thanked  God  he  had  failed,  because 
now  he  could  get  acquainted  with  his  family;  yet  I 
have  no  doubt  the  incident  was  an  actual  one.  Men 
believe  they  do  all  their  duty  to  their  family  when 
they  pay  their  bills,  and  go  through  life  without  learn- 
ing what  rest  and  strength  can  be  found  at  their  own 
fire  sides. 

No  man  in  business  to-day  can  look  back  over  the 
list  of  brother  merchants  for  the  past  twenty  years 
without  noticing  this  :  that  the  men  who  were  tricky 
in  their  dealings  with  men,  who  were  addicted  to  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  or  who  were  unchaste  in 
their  lives,  rarely  made  their  business  successful.     Such 


A   BUSINESS    BIAN'u    El     BEATIONS.  247 

men  frequently  appear  to  be  on  the  highest  wave  oi 
prosperity;  they  laugh  at  all  laws  of  man  or  God,  and 
seem  to  thrive;  bul  the  day  surely  comes  when  they 
lake  the  downward  course.  The  tricky  man  is  Mire 
to  over-reach  liiua    •!.'.  or  h  known  a9  an  un- 

safe man  and  is  avoided.  The  man  who  dabbles  with 
strong  drink  will  be  brought  to  the  pass  where  strong 
drink  masters  him,  and  from  this  place  his  ruin  is  sure 
and  swift. 

The  retrospect  that  shows  so  many  ruins  is  at  best 
but  an  exceedingly  sad  one.     Not   seldom  it  is  our 
brightest  and  best  who  are  dragged  down   by  the  de- 
mon of  drink.     I  pass  men  on  the  street  to-day  whom 
I  remember  as  energetic,  prosperous  merchants;  men 
who  were  pointed  out  as  models  to  younger  men.  and 
whose  Buccess  was  as  well  assured  as  any  thing  could 
be.     Cut  there  came  a  time  when  conservative    old 
merchants  shook  their   heads  at  them,  and  when  the 
street  spoke  of  them  as   being  jolly   boys;  from   that 
to  the  bottom  was  a  short  race.     I  do  not  wonder 
that  such  men   are  tempted  to  take  their  own    Li 
It  seems  to    me   that   the   man    who    ruins   his    life, 
and  brings  misery  to  those  depending  onhim,  just  by 
gratifying  his    own   appetite,    cannot    help  but    feel 
that  he  lb  deserving   the   scorn  of  all    mankind,  and 
should  wish  to  hide  himself  away  from  all  his  fellow.-;. 
But   this  habit    does    not    come  in   a    night.      Y"oa 
will  be  told  it  is  your  duty  to  "recreate"  a  little,  and 
a  jolly    set    of  fellows  will    tempt  you  to   be    one  of 
them.      I  hear  men  say  the  road  to  ruin  is  an  easy  road. 
Yes;  I  believe  it  is;  but  I  believe  the  road  to  prosperity 


2J:S  ON   THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES. 

is  just  as  easy  to  travel.  If  you  put  yourself  in  the  track 
that  leads  downward,  you  will  be  helped  along  that 
way ;  but  if  you  keep  on  the  other  track  you  will  be 
pushed  along  with  that  crowd  just  as  easily,  and  to  an 
end  that  means  respect  and  prosperity.  No  pleasures 
can  be  called  recreation  that  do  not  leave  the  person  as 
pure  in  mind,  as  sound  in  body,  as  cheerful  in  spirits 
as  when  he  began. 

One  of  the  wholesale  merchants  who  did  business 
near  me,  who  was  quoted  well  by  all  the  mercantile 
agencies,  and  in  good  credit  everywhere,  seemed  to  be 
a  pushing,  careful  sort  of  man  and  attended  strictly 
to  his  business.  But  during  one  of  his  visits  to 
Kew  York  he  was  seen  making  a  tour  of  disreputable 
houses  while  he  was  "  drunk  as  a  lord,"  and  from  that 
time  his  course  was  downward.  Much  of  the  credit 
given  him  was  on  the  strength  of  his  personal  charac- 
ter, and  conservative  houses  found  they  had  overval- 
ued him.  The  chances  are  they  underrated  him  after 
this,  and  did  not  give  him  the  credit  that  his  capital 
entitled  him  to;  but  he  had  only  himself  to  blame. 
Instead  of  learning  a  lesson  by  it  he  put  on  bravado 
and  said,  "one  man  was  as  good  as  another  so  long  as 
he  paid  his  bills,  and  that  it  was  no  one's  business 
what  he  did  or  whom  he  went  with  so  long  as  he  paid 
one  hundred  cents  on  the .  dollar,"  but  it  did  make 
a  difference,  for  he  is  to-day  salesman  on  a  very 
moderate  salary. 

The  search  after  recreation  often  leads  men  towards 
fast  horses;  a  good  horSe  is  as  wise  an  investment  as 
the  man  who  can  afford  it  could  make,  but  I  never 


A  business  man's  keckeations.  240 

knew  a  man's  business  credit  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  he  owned  a  horse  that  had  made  a  record ;  nor 

am  I  sure  that  the  style  of  talk  and  living  that  obtains 

among  fast-horse  men  IS  of  any  advantage  to  the  aver- 
age business  man.  It  is  wonderful  how  easily  men 
are  influnced  to  become  like  the  company  they  keep! 

I  have  dwelt  at  length  on  the  recreations  that  are 
not  recreations;  perhaps  have  said  much  more  than 
was  necessary,  and  nothing  but  what  was  well  known 
before,  but  there  is  a  pecular  temptation  to  the  over- 
worked business  man  to  indulge  in  the  excesses  I  have 
been  writing  against.  Sitting  down  in  a  chair  away 
from  his  desk  is  not  always  rest;  the  busy  wheels  of  the 
brain  keep  on  revolving,  and  plans  are  made  just  the 
same  whether  sitting  in  the  office  or  in  one's  parlor. 
The  surest  release  is  in  pleasant  converse,  or  getting 
lost  in  good  books. 

Then  every  business  man  who  has  children  looks 
i'm-ward  to  the  time  when  his  son  shall  share  the 
labors  and  cares  with  him;  shall  fit  himself  to  take 
the  leadership  when  old  age  comes.  I  know  of  no 
better  way  of  fitting  a  boy  to  carefully  and  honorably 
discharge  the  duties  of  manhood  than  by  making  him 
your  companion,  and  by  living  the  life  you  desire  him 
to  live.  Men  are  not  turned  out  of  the  mould  ready- 
made,  principles  and  habits  all  correctly  formed; 
they  grow.  I  think  we  are  apt  to  forget  this.  Our 
clerks  are  swift  to  follow  out  our  orders;  our  business 
connections  are  ready  to  meet  our  wishes,  and  many 
men  imagine  their  children  are  growing  up  right 
because  they  occasionally  shoot  a   moral   maxim   at 


250  OX   THE   KOAD   TO    RICHES. 

thorn.  But  figs  will  grow  on  thistles,  long  before  the 
example  of  an  immoral  father  will  produce  moral 
children. 

I  have  seen  young  men  who  were  unable  to  speak 
the  truth,  simply  because  they  had  seen  their  fathers 
lie  in  every  transaction  they  undertook.  I  have 
known  merchants  to  boast  of  their  marital  infidelities, 
and  then  seen  their  sons  "go  and  do  likewise."  I  have 
known  sons  of  good  men  to  turn  out  badly,  yet  I 
always  have  hope  that  these  will  some  time  turn  to  the 
good,  but  it  is  rare  that  a  bad  father  sees  his  chil- 
dren grow  up  better  than  himself.  So  I  think  it 
should  be  a  part  of  every  man's  recreation  to  devote 
himself  to  his  children,  and  to  see  that  they  are  close 
to  him  in  sympathies  and  companionship. 

And  this  leads  me  to  say  that  a  man's  best  pleasures 
and  sweetest  rest  should  be  found  in  his  own  home. 
Business  is  a  master  that  soon  makes  abject  slaves  of 
us  if  we  will,  but  with  your  trade  established  it  is  your 
duty  to  be  the  master  of  your  business.  Men  go  to 
their  stores  in  the  morning  and  work  till  bed-time, 
only  stopping  long  enough  during  the  day  to  swallow 
down  their  meals,  and  yet  they  consider  themselves 
good  husbands  and  parents.  I  pity  the  man  who  has 
a  wife  to  whom  he  cannot  talk  about  his  business,  and 
have  the  feeling  that  she  understands  the  subject.  If 
there  were  more  of  such  confidences  between  man  and 
wife  there  would  be  fewer  failures.  The  old  adage 
says  :  "  If  a  man  would  be  rich  he  must  first  ask  his 
wife;"  I  think  we  are  appreciating  this  now  when 
economy  is  the  order  of  the  day. 


GEO  WING   KICII.  251 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

GBOWXNG   KICII. 

In  attempting  to  lay  before  young  men  the  true 
way  to  do  business,  I  have  held  before  them  the  fact 
that  each  of  the  steps  is  an  important  one  in  reaching 
the  successful  end — wealth.  The  list  of  men  who  have 
started  out  in  this  path  is  a  very  long  one;  they  who 
reached  the  goal  are  few  in  number.  I  think  I  have 
shown  why  this  is  so,  and  that  their  ruin  came,  not 
from  any  fault  of  the  business,  but  from  the  very  fact 
that  they  could  not  stand  success.  Overweening  con- 
fidence in  themselves  and  their  luck,  and  anxiety  to 
grow  rich  in  one  jump,  landed  them  where  they  prop- 
erly belonged — in  a  salaried  situation.  But  the  man 
who  conducts  his  business  with  ordinary  care  and 
shrewdness  cannot  fail.  There  will  be  business  losses, 
but  he  will  have  prepared  himself  for  them.  Goods 
will  decline  in  value  on  his  shelves,  but  he  will  have 
foreseen  it,  and  be  found  with  a  small  stock.  Some 
seasons  will  be  dull  and  trade  much  lighter  than  he 
had  any  reason  to  ant  icipate,  but  if  he  does  not  sell 
his  goods  to  good  men  he  lias  them  on  his  shelves. 
He  avoids  speculation,  ostentation,  and  keeps  himself 
perfectly  familiar  with  every  detail  of  his  busia 
and  he  invariably  becomes  a  wealthy  man. 


252  ON   THE   EOAD   TO   RICHES. 

"When  lie  is  rich  lie  should  give  others  a  chance.  A 
man  owes  a  duty  to  his  clerks,  and  one  that  reaches 
beyond  the  simple  paying  them  their  salary.  If  they 
have  been  good  men  they  have  had  no  small  share  in 
establishing  his  business.  They  long  for  an  opening 
whereby  they  can  get  into  business  for  themselves, 
but  are  unable  to  see  one,  and  have  not  the  means  to 
take  advantage  of  one  should  it  turn  up.  You  have 
become  rich.  There  is  a  greater  pleasure  than  that  of 
making  money:  it  is  to  spend  it  well.  So  give  your 
clerks  a  chance. 

Here  is  one  who  has  been  with  you  for  years.  He 
has  looked  after  your  interests  as  closely  as  if  the  store 
was  his  own.  A  large  measure  of  your  success  is  due 
to  his  watchful  care.  Have  you  balanced  accounts  by 
paying  him  twelve  hundred  a  year?  There  is  the 
book-keeper.  He  has  been  with  you  so  long  that 
you  have  come  to  rely  on  his  judgment  as  much  as 
your  own.  You  have  gradually  given  up  the  charge 
of  the  office  work  to  him,  and  feel  and  know  that  you 
are  perfectly  safe  in  so  doing.  You  have  paid  him  a 
good  salary,  but  has  he  been  worth  only  that  ?  Your 
traveling  men  have  worked  early  and  late  on  the  road, 
and  your  own  experience  reminds  you  that  it  has  been 
hard  work.  They  have  made  you  thousands  every 
year,  and  are  increasing  their  trade  yearly.  Can  you 
say,  now  that  your  pockets  are  full  of  dollars,  that  you 
are  under  no  obligations  to  them?  You  do  not  want 
to  break  in  new  men ;  you  would  sorely  hate  to  have 
one  of  these  old  clerks  leave  you ;  why  not  bind  them 
to  you,  and  make  your  interests  identical  ?    Be  liberal 


GROWING    RICII.  ZOO 

with  tlicm.     Do  no1  be  afraid  to  be  generous.     Yon 
can  afford  to  divide.     You  have  enough   now;    tl 
have  nothing.    When  you  were  beginning  yon  wanted 

to  get  one  hundred  cents  out  of  every  dollar  thai  yon 
invested;  you  are  able  to  take  less  interest  now.  To 
offer  them  an  interest  that  will  really  be  no  more  than 
a  fair  salary,  is  an  outrage  upon  yourself.  You  cannol 
afford  to  do  such  a  thing.  Your  character  as  a  busi- 
nessman is  established.  You  are  known  to  be  shrewd 
and  successful;  why  not  establish  a  reputation  now  as 
a  generous  man?  You  do  not  want  to  quit  business, 
neither  do  you  care  to  tie  yourself  so  closely  to  your 
store  as  was  necessary  in  past  years.  There  is  but 
one  way  of  solving  the  problem  justly:  divide  the 
responsibility  and  the  profits  with  your  men  who  de- 
serve it. 

"When  you  have  done  this  do  not  allow  yourself  to 
rust;  still  have  some  one  department  of  business 
under  your  charge,  and  see  that  the  "boys"  are  doing 
all  things  rightly. 

If  your  style  of  living  is  too  plain,  not  for  others' 
eyes,  but  for  your  own  circumstances  and  your  own 
comfort,  gradually  change  it  to  that  which  pleases 
you.  But  do  not  jump  out  of  a  plain,  unpretending 
house  into  a  palace,  and  expect  that  people  will  not 
laugh  at  you.  If  you  have  been  content  with  the 
street  cars  heretofore,  do  not  blossom  out  now  with  a 
coachman.  A  rich  man  cannot  do  just  as  he  pleases 
unless  he  is  very  thick-skinned. 

You  will  find  that  keeping  your  money  is  as  hard 
a  task  as  making  it  was.     Every  day   there   will    be  a 


254  OX    THE    ROAD    TO    RICHES, 

new  avenue  opened  before  you,  wherein  you  will  be 
invited  to  merely  step  in  and  double  your  fortune; 
but  you  can  afford  to  take  no  chances  in  any  thing  ex- 
cept in  human  nature.  You  can  better  afford  to  lose  a 
little  money  among  your  neighbors  than  to  grow  up 
into  a  tight-fisted  money  bag.  Money  is  good  for 
what  it  will  give  us,  and  especially  good  if  we  use  it 
so  that  we  gain  the  good-will  of  our  neighbors. 

Whatever  yon  do,  don't  quit  business,  unless  it  be 
to  do  something  else.  You  have  kept  young  by  keep- 
ing up  your  connection  with  business;  don't  drop  it, 
or  you  will  at  once  grow  old.  In  all  the  fancies  that 
fill  the  head  of  an  old  merchant,  none  are  so  entirely 
false  as  that  he  will  be  happy  when  he  can  jmt  aside 
his  business.  He  will  find  that  his  business  was  a 
very  important  part  of  himself,  and  now  that  it  has 
gone  from  him,  he  is  only  part  of  a  man,  and  a  very 
poor  part,  too.  I  have  been  very  sorry  for  old  men 
who  have  quit  business,  and  know  that  their  lives 
were  cut  short  by  what  they  imagined  would  prolong 
them.  "When  the  old  farmer  gives  up  the  farm  to  the 
boys,  his  steps  are  rapid  towards  the  grave  ;  whereas 
he  who  keeps  up  his  connection  with  what  has  been 
his  life  for  so  many  years,  keeps  himself  from  growing 
"  old,"  and  his  mind  from  rusting.  Young  men  can 
lay  down  one  thing  for  another,  but  old  men  can  get 
out  of  the  net  only  at  their  peril. 

In  an  address  by  the  late  Chas.  Sumner,  occurs  this 
passage:  "Wealth,  power  and  influence  are  not  for 
self-indulgence  merely,  and  just  according  to  their 
extent  are  the  obligations  to  others  which  they  im- 


A!.\..    RICH.  -•'•' 

p  ,.  If  by  the  rule  of  increase,  to  him  that  hath 
veil,  so  in  the  Bame  degree  new  duties  are  super- 
added; nor  can  any  man  escape  fron  their  behests. 
If  the  merchanl  be  in  reality  our  feudal  lord,  he  must 
render  feudal  service;  if  he  be  our  modern  knight,  he 
must  do  knightly  deeds;  if  he  be  the  baron  of  our 
day,  let  him  maintain  baronial  charity  to  the  humble 
ye,  and  baronial  courage  against  tyrannical  wrong, 
in  whatsoever  form  it  may  assume.  But  even  it'  1  err 
in  attributing  to  him  this  peculiar  position,  I  do  not 
err  in  attributing  to  him  these  duties;  for  his  influ- 
ence is  surely  great,  and  he  is  at  least  a  man  bound 
by  his  simple  manhood  to  regard  nothing  human  as 
foreign  to  his  heart. 

Mr.  John  ^rcDonongh,  the  New  Orleans  millionaire, 
has  engraved  on  his  tomb  a  series  of  maxims,  which  he 
had  prescribed  as  the  rules  for  his  guidance  through  life, 
and  to  which  his  success  was  mainly  attributable: 

••  Remember  always  that  labor  is  one  of  the  condi- 
tions of  our  existence.  Time  is  gold;  throw  not  one 
minute  away,  but  place  each  one  to  account.  Do  unto 
all  men  as  von  would  be  dour  by.  Never  Covet  what 
is  not  your  own.  Never  think  any  matter  so  trifling 
as  not  to  deserve  notice.  Never  give  out  that  which 
not  first  come  in.  Never  spend  but  to  produce. 
1    ;     |  ■  I    order  regulate   the  transactions   of 

your  life.  Study  in  the  course  of  life  to  do  the  great- 
amount  of  good.  Deprive  yourself  of  nothing 
necessary  to  your  comfort,  but  live  in  an  honorable 
simplicity  and  frugality.  Labor,  then,  to  the  last  mo- 
ment of  your  existence." 


256  ON   THE    EOAD    TO    RICTTES. 

If  my  reader  has  followed  me  through  the  various 
steps  of  business,  he  will  have  now  reached  that  place 
where  we  leave  the  merchant  blessed  with  wealth  and 
happy  visions  of  a  declining  age.  He  has  earned  the 
honor  and  esteem  of  his  fellow-men ;  his  name  is  re- 
spected upon  'change;  his  advice  is  sought,  and  freely 
given  to  the  young  merchants  who  are  struggling  in 
the  path  he  remembers  so  well;  and  there  is  neither 
care  nor  worry  before  him.  What  he  sowed  he  is 
reaping,  and 

— "An  old  age,  serene  and  bright, 
And  lovely  as  a  Lapland  night, 
Shall  lead  him  to  his  grave." 

THE   END. 


